Delta CEO Asks Merrick Garland To Create A Federal No-Fly List

Every airline keeps its own list of passengers non gratae for those whose behavior was so egregious that they are no longer welcome to fly with that carrier. Traditionally, airlines have always kept their no-fly lists for internal use only, meaning that a passenger who was banned on, say, United Airlines, could simply book their future travels on Delta, American, JetBlue or Southwest. But that may soon change.

In a letter last week to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastien formally asked the Department of Justice to create a federal no-fly list.

The request comes amid thousands of unruly passenger incidents during the Covid-19 pandemic. By September 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had received 4,385 reports of unruly passengers so far in the year, about three-quarters of which involved travelers who refused to comply with a federal mask mandate on board.

For its part, Delta has put nearly 1,900 people on its own “no-fly” list for refusing to comply with masking requirements and has submitted more than 900 banned names to the TSA to pursue civil penalties.

In his letter, Bastien thanked Garland for the government’s increased enforcement and prosecutions of unruly passenger incidents and then requested the “much-needed step” of putting “any person convicted of an on-board disruption on a national, comprehensive, unruly passenger ‘no-fly’ list that would bar that person from traveling on any commercial air carrier,” the Delta CEO wrote in a letter furnished to Forbes. “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.”

Delta has been pushing for a federal no-fly list for months now. Last September, Kristen Manion Taylor, Delta’s senior vice president of in-flight service, wrote in a memo to flight attendants that the airline was asking other airlines to share their ‘no fly’ lists because “a list of banned customers doesn’t work as well if that customer can fly with another airline.”

“Anytime a customer physically engages with intent to harm, whether in a lobby, at a gate or onboard, they are added to our permanent No Fly list,” wrote Eric Phillips, Delta’s senior vice president of charter and cargo operations, in another staff memo last September. “We also actively engage with local authorities to ensure these incidents are investigated and prosecuted as the law allows.”

The internal memos from Taylor and Phillips were sent on the same day in September that the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure held a hearing titled, “Disruption in the Skies: The Surge in Air Rage and its Effects on Workers, Airlines, and Airports.”

Throughout this period of increased bad behavior, flight attendants have born the brunt of the abuse. According to a 2021 survey of flight attendants, over 85% had dealt with unruly passengers in the first half of last year, when the most egregious incidents escalated to cause disruption on the flight and even, in some cases, violence. On an Alaska Airlines flight in March 2021, a Colorado man who refused to wear a face mask swatted at a flight attendant, then stood up and urinated in his seat area. In May of last year, a Southwest Airlines passenger punched out a flight attendant’s teeth after being told to keep her seat belt fastened.

Bastien ended his letter to Garland by pointing out that Delta has “provided meaningful assistance” in investigations and prosecutions that occurred very recently. “Last month, for example, federal charges were brought against three customers who harmed two Delta team members in JFK. Delta pursued the strongest possible charges to hold these individuals accountable and will continue to support our employees. This is one of four incidents that have resulted in federal charges against abusive customers in the last 30 days,” wrote the Delta CEO.