Alaska lawmaker Lora Reinbold is quite upset because she can’t get out of the state capital after the latest legislative session after being banned by Alaska Airlines in April. I will leave out Reinbold’s political party because I’m fairly certain you can figure it out.
Unfortunately for Reinbold, Juneau is only accessible by air or sea. While Delta Airlines offers seasonal flights, Alaska Airlines is the only airline with year-round service between Juneau and Anchorage. Reinbold represents the Anchorage suburb of Eagle River, so without access to air travel, she has to travel over 19 hours by car and ferry to get from her district to the capital, crossing through Canada’s Yukon Territory along the way.
Why was Reinbold banned from the airline in April? She accosted Alaska Airlines ticketing agents in the Juneau airport when asked to wear a mask, and wear it properly. Reinbold is an anti-masker who previously harassed an Alaska flight crew when asked to comply with the mask mandate during a November 2020 flight. She photographed the flight attendants, posted their photo to Facebook, and described the incident as “mask tyranny.” Like most COVID-19-deniers, Reinbold didn’t consider the consequences when she decided to harass Alaska Airlines employees who were doing their jobs.
In the video below, Alaska Airlines staff professionally tell Reinbold she needs to put her mask over her nose. She allegedly threw a tantrum before demanding their names, the officer’s badge number, and recording them on her phone.
Airline employees across the nation have faced unprecedented intimidation by anti-maskers, with flight attendants facing the bulk of the abuse. Alaska Airlines executives had enough, and told the senator she is persona non grata.
We have notified Senator Lora Reinbold that she is not permitted to fly with us for her continued refusal to comply with employee instruction regarding the current mask policy. This suspension is effective immediately pending further review.
Federal law requires all guests to wear a mask over their nose and mouth at all times during travel, including throughout the flight, during boarding and deplaning, and while traveling through an airport.
The April incident wasn’t the first time Reinbold acted out. Though she was permitted to board her flight that day, if Alaska allowed the legislator to continue to fly on the airline, it wouldn’t have been the last time, either. Reinbold has falsely claimed that masks don’t work by saying “I saw no research on cloth, silk, cotton face coverings ... that they prevent COVID.”
After the November 2020 incident, Reinbold sent an apology cake. Of course, in the ultimate sorry-not-sorry move, she didn’t admit she was wrong or behaved badly, but faulted them for being offended by her tantrum.
After the incident, she reportedly sent a cake to some flight attendants bearing the inscription: “I’m sorry if I offended you.”
In case you haven’t figured it out, Reinbold is a bit of a jerk. She has gotten into fights with figures in her own party, and is so toxic that back in February she was admonished by the state’s Republican governor for spreading misinformation about COVID-19.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has written a scathing letter to Eagle River Republican Sen. Lora Reinbold, accusing her of deliberately spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic during legislative hearings and of berating executive branch officials.
The state’s chief medical officer was also frustrated with Reinbold’s spreading of debunked rumors on her Facebook page. Reinbold responded with, “I think that definitely contradicts things that I’ve definitely been following online.” So glad she found information on YouTube that every top scientist and doctor missed ...
In the end, Reinbold did find options to get back to Anchorage, and her fellow Republicans did excuse her from the legislature for the upcoming session, which I think is inexcusable. She is responsible for her own behavior, and needs to be replaced. I’m not alone in my thinking here.
I thanked Alaska Airlines for standing up for their employees, and told Reinbold to stop acting like a whiny child. You have to wear a paper mask on a plane full of people for like an hour—it’s not hard, and it’s certainly not “tyranny.” How the hell can you pass laws if aren’t even mature enough to follow simple instructions?