Airlines dealing with a rash of irate, disruptive and violent passengers since 2020 have banned many of those travelers from future flights. But Delta Air Lines CEO Edward H. Bastian said last week that he wants the federal government’s help to place some offenders on a “national, comprehensive” list of unruly passengers that would keep them off any commercial airline.
So what’s the difference? And would that be the same “no-fly” list that is meant to keep suspected terrorists off flights?
Airlines can ban passengers because of their behavior on flights, whether they have been convicted of a crime or not. In a Feb. 3 letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland reviewed by The Washington Post, Delta’s chief executive asks that anyone convicted of an onboard disruption to be placed on the government list.
The airline said its request referred to expanding a category within the existing “watch list” that flags people considered a threat to civil aviation. Some union leaders in the airline industry have been requesting a centralized list since last year.
Here’s what the airlines are already doing, what Delta is asking — and what officials are saying about it.
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