Delta has put 240 people on ‘no fly list’ for not wearing masks, CEO says

By Tracy Rucinski

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Delta Air Lines has placed about 240 people on a “no fly list’ for failing to comply with the airline’s face mask policy, Chief Executive Ed Bastian said in a memo to employees on Thursday.

There is no U.S. federal mandate on masks in airports or on airplanes, leaving U.S. airlines to enforce their own rules that passengers must wear face coverings while traveling.

“Although rare, we continue to put passengers who refuse to follow the required face-covering rules on our no-fly list,” Bastian said in the memo, which was reviewed by Reuters.

To obtain a boarding pass, passengers on major U.S. airlines have to check a box confirming that they will follow the mask policy.

Airline gate agents can deny boarding to anyone not wearing a mask before the flight. But on the plane, there is little flight attendants can do to ensure compliance other than threatening to put passengers on a list that would ban them from future travel on that airline.

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)