Delta Air Lines sent a letter to the Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting that any person convicted of creating a disruption aboard a flight be placed on the national “no fly” list.
In the letter, Delta CEO Ed Bastian stated that there should be “zero tolerance” for any behavior that affects flight safety and noted that without a collective national list, unruly passengers can simply choose to fly another airline when one blocks them after an incident.
WATCH: KRISTI NOEM RESPONDS AFTER SOUTH DAKOTA LEGISLATURE BLOCKS HEARTBEAT BILL
“This action will help prevent future incidents and serve as a strong symbol of the consequences of not complying with crew member instructions on commercial aircraft,” Bastian wrote in the letter, furnished to Reuters by Delta Air Lines.
As of Feb. 1, the Federal Aviation Administration had received 323 reports of unruly passengers, with 205 of the incidents related to face masks, since the beginning of 2022. Of the reported incidents, only 26 had enforcement action initiated.
The FAA’s current policy, enacted in January 2021, calls for passengers to be fined upwards of $37,000 and face imprisonment should they interfere with, threaten, or assault an aircraft crew member.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Currently, the Transportation Security Administration enforces an FBI “no fly” list for terrorist threats. The list does not include passengers facing fines for unruly behavior. The TSA does work with the Federal Aviation Administration, however, to flag previous unruly passengers and remove their Precheck screening privileges.
