CEO for Delta Air Lines Ed Bastian submitted a written request to Attorney General Merrick Garland last week again urging the Justice Department to prosecute and ban unruly passengers.
The short answer response was posted on Tuesday.
“The Department of Justice continues to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of those involved in criminal activity that threatens the safety of passengers, crew and crew,” Justice Department spokeswoman Joshua Steve said in a statement.
“We are committed to bringing those who violate federal law to justice. We will send Delta’s letter to the appropriate department.”
Bastian previously requested a no-fly list in 2021 and has called for urgent action on Friday, February 4th 2022.
“With the welcome strengthening of law enforcement and prosecutors, we call on you to support our efforts to take much-needed action to create a national, complex and unruly man who disrupts passenger boarding.” According to CNN The copy of the letter seen has a list of flights that prohibit this person from traveling on a commercial aircraft carrier,” Bastian wrote to Garland.
“These measures will help prevent future accidents and will serve as a strong symbol of the consequences of commercial airliners not complying with crew instructions,” Bastian’s letter read. – The letter was initially reported by Reuters.
President Joe Biden stated in October that he had directed the Justice Department to respond to the growing violence on planes after reports of passengers threatening airline workers in protest of the face-mask mandate.
In late October 2021 Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that the passenger list for a federal ban on jets “must be on the table.” An existing list of federal bans is used to combat terrorism.
“Bullying, insulting or even disrespecting flight attendants is absolutely unacceptable,” Buttigieg told CNN’s Dane Bash.
On Tuesday, Delta Air Lines removed two rude and unruly passengers from Flight 1582 departing from Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta.
“Delta will not tolerate rude behavior at the airport and during flight because nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and crew,” the airline said in a statement related to the accident.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration 2021 was the worst year on record for aggressive passenger on aircraft behavior in the U.S.
As of 31st December 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration had filed as many as 5,981 reports of insurgent passengers. Of these 4,290 were mask-related incidents.
It has been just over a year since the Federal Aviation Administration issued a zero-tolerance policy for unruly passenger behavior which bypassed warnings or consultations and led directly to penalties that include hefty fines and jail time.
The policy, sparked by the mask incident and violence on Capitol Hill, was due to expire in late March 2021. It extends at least until the federal mask order is lifted.
As of February 1st this year there were 323 reports of unruly behavior by passengers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Of these 205 were related to the use of masks. This year, 73 investigations and 26 enforcement proceedings were launched.
“While unruly passenger accidents have fallen by about 50% from their record levels in early 2021, there is still a lot of work to be done,” the FAA wrote on its accident-tracking website.