Delta puts 460 passengers on 'no-fly list' due to mask violations

CEO Ed Bastian says face coverings are ‘among the simplest and most effective actions we can take to reduce transmission’

Delta Air Lines has added 460 people to its “no-fly list” due to mask violations during the carrier’s flights.

On Friday, in an internal memo to employees obtained by ABC News, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said that 460 passengers had been added to the airline’s “no-fly list for refusing to comply with our mask requirement”.

He added: “Wearing a mask is among the simplest and most effective actions we can take to reduce transmission, which is why Delta has long required them for our customers and our people.”

Delta made it mandatory for passengers to wear face masks during flights on 1 May, except when eating and drinking, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The US government has not implemented face-mask regulations for airlines, meaning it is up to individual carriers to decide whether coverings need to be worn and the punishment if the rules put in place are not followed.

By 27 August, Delta had banned 240 people from its flights after more than 100 passengers had refused to wear face coverings while in the air.

At the time, Mr Bastian said: “Although rare, we continue to put passengers who refuse to follow the required face-covering rules on our no-fly list.”

The airline also requires passengers to wear face masks at check-in and has told those who cannot wear a covering due to health conditions to consider not flying, according to CNN.

Delta confirmed this week that it will continue to block the middle seats on its flights until at least 2021, despite multiple competitors announcing that they will begin rebooking seats.

After Southwest Airlines announced earlier this week that it would start rebooking middle seats, joining American Airlines and United Airlines, Mr Bastian told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo that the carrier will continue blocking them “well into next year”.

However, he said during a recent earnings call that Delta will stop blocking middle seats in early 2021 if “consumer sentiment and confidence in air travel” returns.

Two weeks ago, Delta reported a $5.4bn (£4.1bn) net loss third quarter loss, after the pandemic badly affected the usual peak travel period.

The Associated Press reported that air travel is down 65 per cent this month compared to 2019, but the industry is slowly recovering, as on Sunday the US recorded one million daily passengers for the first time since March.

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 8.4 million people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 223,437.