WASHINGTON — In 2021, flights across the country had their fair share of wild days. Fights, masks and even sexual assault. Airline companies have had enough.
Last week, Delta CEO Ed Bastian sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, repeating his demand for the Justice Department to prosecute “unruly” passengers and place them on a federal no-fly list.
A federal no-fly list is something the current Transportation Secretary isn’t ruling out.
Pete Buttigieg, who’s also the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, tells CNN, “I think we need to take a look at it. Look, the airlines are often doing their own internal no-fly list. Some of them have spoken about coordinating on that and we’re looking at these policy recommendations as well.”
The Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA to keep things short, released their latest data report. That report counted over 320 incidents of “unruly” behavior. That covers things from passengers refusing mask rules, fighting, and even one passenger who was charged with groping a flight attendant.
“This is happened at an unacceptable rate,” Buttigieg tells CNN, “anything besides zero is an unacceptable rate.”
The Transportation Secretary continues, “I can’t believe we even have to say this, but you need to listen to what flight crews say and you need to act in a way that is safe and not disruptive, for flight crews and your fellow passengers.”
Buttigieg says the rules and regulations for a typical flight are there for your safety, and the safety of everyone on board.
