Should a Passenger with Lice be Banned from Flying?

Image: PHOTO: Lice up close. (photo via Flickr/Michael Wunderli)
Image: PHOTO: Lice up close. (photo via Flickr/Michael Wunderli)
Patrick Clarke
by Patrick Clarke
Last updated: 12:55 PM ET, Thu July 20, 2017

Fox Sports analyst Clay Travis is the latest high profile traveler to cast Delta Air Lines in a negative light.

In a recent post on his website, Out Kick the Coverage, Travis claims his family was banned by the airline from flying home to Nashville, Tennessee, over the weekend after flight attendants learned his six-year-old son had lice.

Travis said his son began scratching his head while in the bathroom line on a flight from Paris to Minneapolis on Saturday.

"Several flight attendants rushed over too and peered down at my son's head. 'Oh, my God, he has lice,' they said," he wrote.

According to Travis, he, his wife and their three sons were quarantined on the flight to Minneapolis and told they would not be allowed to board their connecting flight to Nashville.

"They insisted on conducting a medical examination of my minor children in the customs area of the airport...and they said that if we didn't consent we wouldn't be able to fly to Nashville," Travis told Fox News. "That in no way can be the official policy of Delta Air Lines."

Delta officials told the family they would have to leave the airport, get treated for lice and return with a doctor's note in order to be cleared to fly.

"I can't help but think Delta totally mishandled this situation and needs to reconsider their policies," Travis, who is also a lawyer, wrote on his website.

"Based on my legal research I was told that pilots have final authority over who flies on their planes. So I told him that we were going to go into the airport, head to our gate, and I'd let the pilot decide whether we were allowed to fly," he added. "He told me this was impossible and that he didn't want to have to call security on me."

[CALLOUT]

A Delta representative explained the airline's motivation but stopped short of offering an explanation of its policy on lice.

"We will always prioritize the health of our customers and employees as safety is our top priority," the spokesperson told Fox News. "We will work directly with the family to resolve the issue."

[READMORE]READ MORE: Seat-Kicking Incident Causes JetBlue Booting, Confusion[/READMORE]

Travis said Delta only reached out to him via Twitter and that the incident forced the family to incur thousands of dollars in additional travel costs.

Prior to Travis' troubling tale, Delta came under fire from political commentator Ann Coulter, who launched a series of tweets condemning the airline for forcing her to give up her pre-booked seat on a recent flight.


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Patrick Clarke

Patrick Clarke

Senior Editor

A Maryland native and wanderer who has lived across the U.S. from North Carolina to SoCal, Patrick Clarke graduated from Towson University with a B.S. in journalism. He previously worked for Bleacher

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