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After Alec Baldwin was kicked off an American Airlines flight last week, the actor returned to familiar territory this weekend on the set of "Saturday Night Live" to try and make amends and get a few laughs along the way.

Baldwin made a surprise visit to the show on Saturday - his first public appearance since being removed from a flight last week for refusing to stop Playing Words with Friends on his phone.

He appeared on "Weekend Update" with Seth Meyers posing as the "airline pilot" of the flight.

In character, Baldwin issued an "apology" and referred to himself as an "American treasure."

"I am ashamed at the way he was treated. I mean, what harm would it do to let him keep playing his game…not just any game mind you but a word game for smart people," he said in character.

Last week, Baldwin said via Twitter that his love for a Scrabble-like iPhone game got him "reamed out" and forced off the American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York.

Baldwin's rep said the dispute with American escalated to the point that the "30 Rock" star was asked to leave the plane.

Later in the week, the actor apologized to his fellow passengers but not the airlines in a Huffington Post article.

"It was never my intention to inconvenience anyone with my 'issue' with a certain flight attendant," Baldwin wrote in article posted on the Huffington Post.

American Airlines responded after being blasted by Baldwin.

"Since an extremely vocal customer has publicly identified himself as being removed from an American Airlines flight on Tuesday, Dec. 6, we have elected to provide the actual facts of the matter," the airline posted on its Facebook page. "This passenger declined to turn off his cell phone when asked to do so at the appropriate time."

"The passenger ultimately stood up (with the seat belt light still on for departure) and took his phone into the plane's lavatory. He slammed the lavatory door so hard, the cockpit crew heard it and became alarmed, even with the cockpit door closed and locked," American wrote.

The airlines said after flight attendants were asked to check on the situation, "the passenger was extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive language. Given the facts above, the passenger was removed from the flight and denied boarding."

ABC News' Rob Nelson and Sheila Marikar contributed to this report.