With Mask Mandate Over, Airlines Reconsider No-Fly Lists of Unruly Travelers

Airlines are hopeful that easing mask rules will tamp down on in-flight conflicts, after a federal judge in Florida this week struck down the Biden administration’s Covid-19 mask mandate for public transportation. The Justice Department has said it would appeal that decision, but in the meantime, the mandate isn’t being enforced and U.S. carriers have said masks are optional for passengers and staff.

It has also left airlines to decide what to do with thousands of passengers who broke mask rules during the pandemic, and earned bans.

United Airlines Holdings Inc.

UAL 1.39%

President

Brett Hart

said the Chicago-based airline is getting back in touch with people who were banned from United flights over the course of the pandemic.

“Some are relatively straightforward. It’s just a refusal to wear the mask, and those conversations we were able to handle in a reasonable manner,” Mr. Hart said. For passengers whose actions threatened flight staff or other passengers, he said, “those are individuals who it is less likely that we will welcome back to our airline.”

U.S. airlines started requiring passengers to wear masks early in the pandemic, aiming to persuade wary travelers that flying could be safe, and to assuage crew members’ own concerns. Enforcing those policies quickly proved tricky, and airlines weighed how best to avoid provoking confrontations. Passengers who refused to comply often landed on airlines’ internal blacklists.

Delta Air Lines Inc.

DAL -2.08%

said this week that the roughly 2,000 customers who were put on its internal no-fly list for mask noncompliance will be allowed to return “only after each case is reviewed and each customer demonstrates an understanding of their expected behavior when flying with us.”

Those whose behavior was serious enough to land on a separate, permanent no-fly list, won’t be coming back, the airline said.

American Airlines Group Inc.

AAL 0.07%

similarly will allow most passengers on its internal “refuse list” to return at some point, executives said, while retaining permanent bans on those whose behavior was more serious or violent.

The moves drew objections from some flight attendant union leaders, who said airlines should consult with unions before letting once-barred passengers back onto planes.

“The timing of this is outrageous,” said

Sara Nelson,

president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents flight attendants at several airlines, including United, and is seeking to organize Delta’s flight attendants. “The airlines need to slow down and consider all potential consequences of any policy changes.”

Airline officials have said that in the few days since masks became optional, they have seen little sign that it has had any impact on travel demand one way or the other. Travel appetite has been booming and airlines expect that rebound to continue into summer.

The tension that mask policies created on planes was part of the reason that airlines and their unions supported a federal mandate before it was put in place in the early days of the Biden administration, hoping it would provide backing for flight attendants trying to get passengers to follow the rules.

But problems didn’t stop. The Federal Aviation Administration received nearly 6,000 reports of unruly passengers last year, and over 70% were mask-related.

“People stayed at home for a year. When they came out, they forgot how to act,” said

Thom McDaniel,

a flight attendant and international vice president of the Transport Workers Union. “I’m a 30-year flight attendant, and I’ve never seen this kind of behavior in my life.”

The strain on employees was one reason airlines shifted their stance on masks. After supporting the mandate for most of the past year, carriers began lobbying in recent weeks to lift it, arguing that it was no longer necessary now that much of the population is vaccinated and high-quality masks are widely available to those preferring to continue wearing them.

Airline and labor officials are hopeful that problems will subside without the mask mandate as a flashpoint. Still, the FAA said this week that it won’t change its approach to cracking down on these behaviors—issuing fines rather than starting with warning letters or counseling—which it said has helped cut the incident rate by more than 60%. Lawmakers have proposed legislation that would create a no-fly list for unruly passengers that would be maintained by the Transportation Security Administration.

A majority of Americans—56%—support requiring masks on planes, trains and public transportation, with 24% opposed and 20% neither in favor of a mask mandate nor opposed to one, according to a poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released Wednesday.

While some passengers and crew cheered and quickly ripped off their masks when the new policies were announced, sometimes midflight, other mask-preferring passengers have voiced discomfort with airlines’ abrupt lifting of mask requirements, and said they are wary about flying in mask-free cabins.

Researchers say ventilation and filtration mean that air is relatively safe while planes are in flight, but those systems aren’t always on when planes are waiting on the ground and don’t entirely eliminate risk from infected seatmates.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams was waiting Wednesday for his flight at the Indianapolis Airport when a Delta pilot walked by him and noticed his mask, remarking “take the mask off man, breathe free,” recalled Dr. Adams, who posted about the incident on Twitter.

Delta told employees this week that masks can offer protection and that employees can continue to wear them. Dr. Adams said some airline employees may be taking their relief too far.

“It’s one thing to be happy and say ‘I don’t have to wear a mask,’” said Dr. Adams, who served as surgeon general from 2017 until last year. “It’s another thing to create an environment where people are uncomfortable protecting themselves.”

Delta is urging understanding and patience among employees and passengers as masks become optional on flights and in airports, a spokesman for the airline said.

Write to Alison Sider at [email protected]