Spokesman: Sen. Chuck Schumer Regrets Insulting Flight Attendant

A spokesman for Sen. Charles E. Schumer says the senator "regrets" insulting a flight attendant who insisted he hang up his phone on a shuttle from New York to Washington over the weekend.

New York's senior senator was chatting on his cell phone on a US Airways plane just before takeoff Sunday when the female flight attendant told him the rules required him to end his call, Politico reported.

Schumer, a Democrat, asked if he could finish his conversation and he was told no. He hung up but continued arguing and then called the woman a "bitch," according to a House Republican aide seated nearby.

Schumer was reportedly sitting next to New York's other senator, Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand. The aide quotes Schumer as saying, "It's Harry Reid calling. I guess health care will have to wait until we land," according to Politico.

A Gillibrand spokesperson claimed that Schumer was "polite" with the flight attendant and "turned off his phone when asked to." But Schumer's spokesman, Brian Fallon, apologized for the incident, say that the senator "made an off-the-cuff comment under his breath that he shouldn't have made, and he regrets it."

UPDATE: Republicans wasted little time piling on Schumer.