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Following numerous accounts that airlines were not enforcing their own mask policies, Delta, United and American Airlines have all announced they will now be banning passengers who refuse to cover their nose and mouth. “So far, there have thankfully only been a handful of cases, but we have already banned some passengers from future travel …
Following numerous accounts that airlines were not enforcing their own mask policies, Delta, United and American Airlines have all announced they will now be banning passengers who refuse to cover their nose and mouth.
“So far, there have thankfully only been a handful of cases, but we have already banned some passengers from future travel on Delta for refusing to wear masks on board,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian wrote in a memo to employees on Thursday, CNN reports.
Delta has mandated that passengers wear masks beginning at the check-in lobby since early May, and its flight attendants have been required to wear personal protective equipment since April 27.
American Airlines booted conservative personality and self-described “former liberal” Brandon Straka off a flight earlier this month for refusing to wear a mask. Straka will not be allowed to fly American again until the mask policy is lifted, the airline says.
American has also been requiring passengers to wear masks since early May, as has United Airlines.
This month, United also announced a new policy threatening to ban any passengers who won’t comply with the mask mandate. United confirmed to CNN that it has needed to enforce the policy, and fliers have been temporarily banned as a result.
The airlines are not working together, so passengers banned for refusing to wear masks on one airline are still able to make a reservation on others.
While doubling down on the mask policy, Delta is considering loosening its middle seat policy.
“As the business starts to return, as demand starts to grow, and if people have more confidence in their travel experience, we will decide later in this year when we start to ease up on that cap restriction,” Bastian says of the possibility the company will begin booking passengers in middle seats again in the near future, CNN writes.
