Delta requests the Justice Department to set boisterous travelers on a 'no-fly' list
Key takeaways:
- Regulators got a record of 5,981 reports of raucous travelers the previous year.
- Most happenings have been linked to conflicts over masks.
- Delta the previous year told airlines should share their no-fly lists of cranky travelers.
Delta says regarding unruly travelers:
Delta Air Line's CEO Ed Bastian requested the U.S. Department of Justice to put condemned boisterous travelers on a national "no-fly" list, the airline's latest effort to prevent antagonistic behavior on flights that have overflowed during the pandemic.
Bastian stated that while such happenings are rare, a "no-fly" list "will assist stop future happenings and act as a powerful symbol of the effects of not conceding with crew member instructions on commercial aircraft," he reported to Attorney General Merrick Garland in a note dated Jan. 3.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced a "zero-tolerance" policy for raucous travelers the previous year. In 2021, it logged a record of 5,981 cases of boisterous passenger behavior, 72% of them connected to debates over mask compliance. Enforcement actions were created in 350 patients. So far this year, the FAA received 323 reports of undisciplined passengers.
Previous September, Delta stated airlines should share a significant "no-fly" list of unruly passengers, claiming it could stop people banned from flying on one carrier from traveling on another.
Garland led prosecutors in November to prioritize issues of disruptive and forceful behavior on flights, such as attacks on crew members or passengers. The FAA stated it referred 37 unmanageable passengers to the FBI earlier that month.
It stated that Delta had banned 1,900 individuals from flying the carrier for failing to obey the national mask order.
The Justice Department didn't remark on Bastian's letter, which Reuters first said.