Delta has banned more than 1,600 passengers from flying since the onset of the pandemic. This comes as labor unions representing flight attendants and pilots have raised concerns about the increase in unruly passengers in the last year.
Delta Air Lines has had enough with unruly passengers across the board, and now officials are pushing for a national no-fly ban. They’re asking other major airlines to share their lists of banned passengers.
Delta’s goal is to “further protect airline employees across the industry,” Kristen Manion Taylor, Delta’s senior vice president of in-flight service, recently wrote to flight attendants, as reported in CNBC. “A list of banned customers doesn’t work as well if that customer can fly with another airline.”
Delta has banned more than 1,600 passengers from flying since the onset of the pandemic. This comes as labor unions representing flight attendants and pilots have raised concerns about the increase in unruly passengers in the last year.
The Federal Aviation Administration has received 4,385 reports of unruly passengers as of Sept. 27 and more than a majority are related to travelers who refuse to comply with mask mandates. These alarming numbers are what sparked the FAA to implement a zero-tolerance policy earlier this year.
Delta asking for a national no-fly ban isn’t anything new. The Association of Flight Attendants – CWA, a labor union representing 50,000 cabin crew members across more than a dozen airlines, previously asked for a national database of banned passengers.
In addition, both labor unions and airlines asked the Justice Department to prosecute passengers who become violent on flights.
“The top priority of A4A passenger carriers is the safety of all employees and passengers, and we are committed to working with the federal government and our industry partners to provide a safe journey for all travelers,” Airlines for America, a lobbying group for large U.S. carriers including Delta, American, United, and others.
Airlines’ banned passenger lists are reportedly separate from the federal no-fly list, which is managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Terrorist Screening Center.
Airlines have banned hundreds of passengers for unruly behavior since the start of the pandemic. Delta Air Lines wants carriers to share those lists.
The Atlanta-based carrier has asked “other airlines to share their ‘no fly’ list to further protect airline employees across the industry — something we know is top of mind for you as well,” Kristen Manion Taylor, Delta’s senior vice president of in-flight service, wrote to flight attendants on Wednesday. “A list of banned customers doesn’t work as well if that customer can fly with another airline.”
Delta said it has 1,600 passengers on its list. It declined to comment further on a shared no-fly list of banned travelers.
Flight attendant and pilot labor unions have raised alarms about unruly passenger behavior that’s surged during the coronavirus pandemic. Reports have included incidents of shouting, verbal abuse of crews and, in rare cases, physical assault.
Airlines’ banned passenger lists are separate from the federal no-fly list, which is managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Terrorist Screening Center.
American Airlines and Southwest Airlines aren’t currently selling alcohol on board due to concerns about how drinking could fuel bad behavior.
Southwest’s incoming CEO, Bob Jordan, told CNBC on Thursday that he didn’t expect alcohol sales to return until the federal mask mandate for air travel is lifted, a step that is currently scheduled for Jan. 19.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, (D-Ore.) chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, on Thursday said airport restaurants should help stop passengers from bringing alcohol on board with to-go cups.
“There is no reason that a passenger should be able to leave a restaurant with a ‘to-go’ cup of alcohol and board a plane with it,” he said in written testimony ahead of a committee hearing on air rage.
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