ATLANTA — The problem of unruly airline passengers has been haunting airlines since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to be an issue nearly every week.
Most incidents have been attributed to people not following the COVID-19 protocols laid out by most airlines involving passengers wearing masks while traveling.
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Channel 2 Action News has obtained a memo from Delta Airlines stating that they now have over 1,600 people on their “no fly” list and have submitted over 600 banned names to the Federal Aviation Administration just this year as part of the agency’s “Special Emphasis Enforcement Program”.
The Atlanta-based airline shared this information with their flight attendants who have had to bear the brunt of the passenger behavior.
The information comes in advance of a hearing scheduled for Friday in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation. The committee will be hearing from U.S. air carriers about the effects of air rage on workers, airlines and airports.
Delta is hoping the other air carriers will share their “no fly” information as well stating, ”A list of banned customers doesn’t work as well if that customer can fly with another airline”.
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Due to the stress and danger of these flare ups with passengers, Delta has offered their workers and flight attendants peer support, mental health coaching and 24/7 assistance to anyone who needs it.
Delta currently requires all of their passengers to be fully masked during their flight with exceptions for eating food or drinking a beverage for a “brief” period of time.
For a full list of Delta’s COVID-19 mask restrictions, you can read about them on the company’s website.
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