Delta CEO Asks DOJ to Help Create No-Fly List for Unruly Passengers

Image: Airport security escorting a man off of an airplane. (photo via ranplett/E+)
Image: Airport security escorting a man off of an airplane. (photo via ranplett/E+)
Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 11:10 AM ET, Sat February 5, 2022

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian has written a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking the nation's chief law enforcement officer for help from the Department of Justice to create a 'no-fly' list for unruly passengers.

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.

Despite the FAA instituting a zero-tolerance policy for in-flight altercations, including fines of up to $52,000, Bastian said a no-fly list that took away a citizen's ability to travel - on any commercial airline, not just Delta - would be a stronger deterrent.

"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, according to ABC News.

Bastian and his fellow CEOs certainly have seen enough to warrant making such an inquiry. ABC reported that 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.


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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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