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.
What are your thoughts? Are you in favor of a national no-fly database or should airlines show passengers some grace?