Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines now has more than 400 people on its no-fly list for refusing to wear a face mask. Delta said wearing masks “is among the simplest and most effective actions we can take to reduce transmission.” According to American news, broadcaster NBC News America’s third-largest airline by fleet numbers has banned 460 mask-refusing customers.
In a letter to its employees on Thursday, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said that the carrier had added 460 customers to its no-fly list for refusing to wear a face-covering during the on-going COVID-19 medical emergency.
“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.” The Delta boss also encouraged employees to watch two internal videos about how wearing a face mask helps contain the virus’s spread.
Government assistance ended October 1
Delta Air Lines and other North American carriers began to require all passengers to wear non-vented fabric face masks aboard flights back in May. The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on Delta, and other US carriers as passengers shy away from air travel.
Earlier in the pandemic, the United States Congress passed the CARES Act giving airlines billions of dollars to help them weather the storm. That government assistance ran out on October 1, with politicians unable to agree on extra funding ahead of the Presidential election on Tuesday, November 3. There is still a chance that funding could come before the election, but airlines are not waiting to find out and have started laying off thousands of workers.
As the number of coronavirus infections in the United States continues to rise, Bastian wrote that the fortunes of the airline depend upon how well the population combats the medical emergency, saying:
“With the cold-weather months approaching, stopping the spread will be crucial to our recovery from the pandemic and Delta’s return to growth and leadership within our industry,” he wrote.
Why do people refuse to wear a mask?
According to leading epidemiologists wearing a face mask is an effective way to help stop the spread of this deadly virus, yet people still refuse to do so. Some falsely claim that the coronavirus is a hoax while others cite their personal freedom as to why they refuse to wear a face mask. Some even go so far as to think it is some kind of government conspiracy involved and that the vaccine my if fact, not be what it claims to be.
President Trump did not help either when he called the coronavirus to be like the flu saying it would be gone by the summer. His refusal to wear a mask had many of his supporters also not wearing one. This and other confusing recommendations from health officials had people not knowing if they needed to wear a mask or not.
Some people act out
Psychologists say that people are also more likely to seek information from a social consensus in these uncertain times rather than scientific data.
When speaking to the Wall Street Journal about how people are handling the coronavirus, senior director of health-care innovation at the American Psychological Association Vaile Wright said:
“There’s a relatively small group of individuals who will act out when they feel like somebody’s trying to control their behavior.”
The bottom line here is that Delta, like other airlines, requires you to wear a mask, and if you are not prepared to do so, you should not fly.
What do you think about Delta’s mask policy, and are they right to ban people who refuse to wear a mask? Please tell us what you think in the comments.