Tag Archives for masks.
We usually see passengers being booted from flights for refusing to wear a mask. It’s unusual to see passengers kicked off for complaining about how other passengers are wearing their masks.
However on Saturday’s United Airlines Newark – Tel Aviv flight that’s exactly what happened.
Two women flying Frontier Airlines from Seattle to Denver three weeks ago caused every passenger on board to deplane when they refused to properly wear masks, as the airline requires.
One of the woman, wearing a MAGA hat, told a passenger getting off the plane to “have a good day” followed by a derogatory epithet for African Americans, while her friend in a blue Trump hat ate an apple. Passengers cheered as police removed them both from the aircraft.
A husband and wife boarded their flight on American Airlines from Charlotte to Jacksonville along with their 4 year old and 2 year old and two grandparents. American kicked them off because their two year old wouldn’t keep her mask on. They had no issue on their inbound flight, just their onward connection. And the woman says her daughter was eating, which is allowed.
American Airlines staff in Charlotte reportedly threatened to ban the whole family from the airline.
After refusing to wear a mask on board and streaming advice online that others follow suit, self-styled black conservative activist David Harris, Jr. showed up at the airport for his return flight to find he was banned from American Airlines.
Now he’s back, flying United Airlines and again refusing to wear a mask. He was traveling with Fox News and The Bachelor alum Jillian Anderson, and together they took to the sky on United to promote President Trump and mask refuseniks.
For parents of two year olds who have difficulty maintaining a mask throughout their flight, fly Delta which permits young children in that situation to be exempt from the requirement.
Flying Delta is exactly what the family did next but, oddly, without their daughter. They “had to get down to Palm Beach” but the two year old stayed home and mom Instagrammed a beach shot.
If you’re going to travel, wear a good mask that fits and learn how to use it. N95 masks are available, and increasingly so, I do not believe you should be wearing a cloth mask in the airport or in other crowded settings.
There’s no federal mask mandate. All U.S. airlines require passengers to wear masks. So most people assume that the only penalties for non-compliance are imposed by airlines. That’s not true.
Airlines only impose penalties, other than asking a passenger not to fly, when enforcing mask rules leads to an altercation. But when an altercation occurs, the FAA can impose penalties too. In other words, you don’t need a federal mask mandate to punish passengers for bad behavior.
A husband and wife who say they are Silver elite members of United’s MileagePlus program report their family has been banned from United Airlines “forever” because their two year old was unwilling to keep a mask on. The child’s mother, a trainer and health coach, shares on Instagram that they ‘always fly United’ and have flown with their child four times during the pandemic without issue. So why now?
Video of the incident has been viewed over 2.3 million times in less than 24 hours.
Airline mask rules are likely to be watered down by a new executive order, but may last longer than they would have if left up to airlines.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
