Woman Banned From American Airlines After Calling Flight Attendant 'Mask Nazi'

Image: PHOTO: American Airlines Airbus A330. (photo via Jozsef Soos/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus)
Image: PHOTO: American Airlines Airbus A330. (photo via Jozsef Soos/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus)
Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 5:29 PM ET, Tue September 8, 2020

American Airlines has banned a female passenger after the woman allegedly left a nasty, derogatory note for a flight attendant who asked the traveler to properly wear her face mask.

It included calling the crew member a "mask Nazi."

The incident, first reported by TMZ, apparently happened at some point last week. The flight attendant, also female, alerted her superiors. The note somehow wound up in the hands of a fellow traveler, who tweeted out its content with a picture.

Several people who replied to the tweet questioned the veracity of the note, apparently written on the waste/vomit bag in the seatback. But American Airlines confirmed the incident to TMZ, saying it is investigating the note and it has already suspended the customer's ability to travel on its planes.

"Our flight attendants are professionals who play a critical role in ensuring the health and safety of our passengers, and we will not tolerate mistreatment of them," an airline spokesperson said.

So far, since instituting the mandatory mask policy on flights, airlines have suspended the flying privileges of more than 700 people.

The passenger was apparently triggered by the flight attendant asking her to properly wear her mask up over her nose. There didn't seem to be a big brouhaha at the moment, but after the flight landed the passenger handed the flight attendant the note.

In part, it read, "You mean (redacted) in life. You are nothing but a glorified maid who needs to jump down off her high horse and learn how to speak to ppl. Nobody cares about your stupid seat policies or your nose issues. We pay your salary and your attitude is unnecessary. … The very fact that we have to listen & kowtow to a nobody who does (redacted) except collect our trash and serve crappy food makes me absolutely ill. You are a mask nazi and a 4 eyed (redacted) and if it wasn't for this job, you would be cleaning motel rooms for $2 tips and meth."

Here is the tweet from the fellow flier and a picture of the note.

WARNING: The note contains curse words and harsh language.

today a passenger handed this to a flight attendant upon deplaning. the flight attendant had asked her to wear her mask over her nose. incredibly done with the general public. pic.twitter.com/wDUVqxkyKH

- (@hibiscuslacroix) September 3, 2020


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Rich Thomaselli

Rich Thomaselli

Associate Writer

Editor Associate Writer true 9281 14744 Rich Thomaselli has written for TravelPulse since 2014 and has been a professional journalist for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times and New York Yankees publications. He is an 11-time writ

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