Against the backdrop of three violent incidents of unruly in-flight behavior by air passengers over the past weekend alone, several Republican senators have banded together to oppose the creation of a federal “no-fly” list sought by airlines in order to deter potentially catastrophic airline disruptions by passengers opposed to masking requirements for air travel.
In an appalling display of callous disregard (even for Republicans) a primary justification being voiced by these senators is that the majority of incidents are due to what they see as onerous restrictions on passengers’ freedoms. Presumably this is seen as justifying or legitimizing such terroristic behavior by passengers in the minds of these senators.
As reported by ABC News:
A group of Republican senators sent a letter to the Justice Department on Tuesday to express "strong opposition" to creating a federal no-fly list for unruly passengers, claiming "the majority of recent infractions on airplanes has been in relation to the mask mandate."
Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas were among those who signed a letter opposing Delta Airlines' CEO Ed Bastian's, request earlier this month that the DOJ create a "no-fly" list for passengers convicted of federal offenses relating to on-board disruptions.
Meanwhile, a 32-year old man terrorized passengers on a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Portland, Oregon, last week when he tried to open an emergency door in flight, purportedly in the expectation that passengers would videotape his rant against COVID-19 vaccines. According to a passenger interviewed afterward by the Eugene, Oregon, Register Guard, that incident occurred about twenty minutes after take-off, when Michael Brandon Demarre of Portland, tore the plastic covering off the emergency door handle:
A flight attendant demanded the man stop touching the handle and move to the rear of the aircraft. He complied and was physically restrained by the flight crew, according to the release. One passenger who filmed the arrest after landing told The Register-Guard the incident began about 20 minutes after takeoff, noting that "the screeching of the wind and the change in pressure was felt by everyone."
Demarre was reportedly tackled to the ground by other passengers, while a flight attendant was finally able to shut door. He was immediately arrested upon landing and now faces federal charges with penalties up to 20 years in prison. Statements he made to police at that time left no doubt about his motivation, as reported by Timothy Bella for the Washington Post:
When asked why he attempted to open the emergency door in-flight, the Portland resident told police he hoped passengers onboard would start filming him so he had “the opportunity to share his thoughts on covid-19 vaccines,” according to an affidavit from FBI agent Adam T. Hoover. In a passenger video obtained by the Register-Guard, Demarre is seen yelling, “We’re all being lied to,” and muttering about coronavirus vaccines as he is taken off the plane by authorities.
This incident was followed by two other instances of unruly passenger behavior on separate American airlines flights occurring last Sunday, within hours of each other. As reported by the Washington Post, the first incident occurred when a passenger on American Flight 1775, en route from Los Angeles to Washington, attempted to open the main cabin front exit door, apparently after being accosted by flight attendants for throwing a coffee pot and pushing a service cart into them. The man was subdued after he himself was hit with the coffee pot, and the flight was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Kansas City, Missouri. The other incident involved a unruly passenger causing a disruption on an American Airlines flight from Phoenix to Honolulu, forcing the plane to turn back and return to Phoenix. Details about that incident have not yet been released.
As noted by the Post’s Lori Aratani and Ian Duncan, these incidents are simply the latest among an epidemic of passenger bad behavior occurring since mask requirements were put into place for domestic and international air travel in order to protect passengers from COVID-19. Many of these high-profile incidents have involved violent attacks on flight attendants and other passengers.
According to the most recent statistics provided by the FAA, there have been nearly 400 reports of unruly passenger airplane behavior this year, 255 of which were related to the federal mask mandate. For the week ending Jan. 30, the FAA reported an average of 6.2 incidents of unruly behavior per 10,000 flights.
In 2021, nearly 6,000 incidents of unruly passenger behavior were reported. While the agency has proposed more than $1 million in fines, it can take months or years for cases to be resolved.
The justification being trotted out by these Republicans for their opposition to a federal no-fly list is predictably cloaked in anti-government rhetoric. Arguing that the airlines themselves can create no-fly lists, they contend that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would be overstepping its bounds.
"Creating a federal 'no-fly' list for unruly passengers who are skeptical of this mandate would seemingly equate them to terrorists who seek to actively take the lives of Americans and perpetrate attacks on the homeland," the GOP senators' letter said.
As pointed out by ABC’s Michelle Stoddart, Mina Kaji and Amanda Maile, this conveniently ignores the fact that such persons are not precluded from simply boarding a different airline to wreak their havoc and further endanger passengers and flight crews. As explained by Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (and as quoted in the ABC report):
"We've been punched, kicked, spit on, and sexually assaulted. This puts everyone at risk and disrupts the safety of flight, which is never acceptable and every single one of the senators who signed this letter knows full well what is at stake if we leave a gap in aviation safety and security," Nelson said. "It is irresponsible and political brinkmanship that will put our economic security at risk right along with our lives."
But scoring points against the Biden administration’s efforts to contain the pandemic evidently is more important than ensuring airline passengers’ safety. At least for Republicans.
Mark Sumner has more on the efforts of these Republican senators and a rundown on some of the most violent and recent air travel incidents, here.