U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he will consider Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian's request to implement a national 'no-fly list' that bars unruly passengers from all airlines.
"I think we need to take a look at it," Buttigieg said in an interview on CNN. "The airlines are often doing their own internal no-fly list and some of them have spoken about coordinating on that, and we're looking at these policy recommendations as well. Not that we're waiting on that to take action."
Bastian last week wrote to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking the nation's chief law enforcement officer and the Department of Justice to create a 'no-fly' list.
Following a year where more than 6,300 onboard incidents were reported to the Federal Aviation Administration since January of 2021, Bastian said a domestic no-fly list should be established for anyone convicted of a crime related to a disruptive confrontation.
"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," Bastian wrote to Garland.
Delta alone has put almost 2,000 passengers on its own no-fly list - almost all of them for defying the federal mask mandate - and has reported 1,000 names to the Transportation Security Administration.
"The (Federal Aviation Administration) has a zero-tolerance policy, fines have been increased, enforcement has been increased, and we've seen some encouraging news in terms of downward trends in unruly incidents," Buttigieg said.
But the DOT Secretary indicated that might not be enough.
"Let's be very clear. This is happening at an unacceptable rate," he said of the incidents. "Anything besides zero is an unacceptable rate. I can't believe we even have to say this but you need to listen to what flight crews say and you need to act in a way that is safe and not disruptive to flight crews and your fellow passengers."
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