In the latest series of “you’re not welcome to fly with us” events, Delta has upped their game and taken their power to ban passengers to the extreme.
Not only can you be banned from flying should you dare lower your mask to eat your snack for too long…
…but now if flight attendants think you’re acting too “rude,” you could find yourself permanently banned from ever flying Delta again.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian took it upon himself to pen a stern memo to his employees letting them know the new policy.
Paddle Your Own Kanoo reported:
“Please know that respect and civility to others on our planes, at our airports, in our workplaces and in our society – even when we have differences of opinion – have always been a requirement for our people and our customers,” Bastian told staffers in the latest memo.
“Those who refuse to display basic civility to our people or their fellow travelers are not welcome on Delta. Their actions will not be tolerated, and they will not have the privilege of flying our airline ever again,” the memo continued.”
Wow.
But how do you even begin to enforce something so vague?
And who determines what is classified as rude?
Flight attendants?
One could argue it’s rude to kick an entire family off the plane because their crying toddler couldn’t keep a mask on.
Or cancel a guy’s trip, but not tell him until after he arrives at the airport to check in.
It’s also pretty rude to ban a veteran who proudly served our country – AND killed Bin Laden – because he took off his mask to eat a snack.
… or prohibit a guest (who happened to be a Federal Air Marshal) from flying because he had an American flag on his mask – forcing him to remove it.
And I’d have to bet, many passengers probably thought that the lady who popped her blister and squirted blood and pus on other passengers was pretty rude…
… the same with the lady who insists she needs a bizarre “emotional support” animal to fly.
So where do airlines draw the line?
If someone is having a bad day, or the flight attendant doesn’t like them, do they actually have the power to permanently ban a passenger for life?
Look I get it – nobody likes a jerk on the plane.
And yes, we should all exercise basic civil decency when traveling. That should go without saying.
The problem in defining “civil decency” is it opens up pandora’s box.
Is the guy who had a bit too much to drink and makes a few obnoxious comments never going to be allowed to fly again?
It makes sense to consider drastic measures for a violent passenger who seeks to harm themselves or others – but vowing to ban passengers for life because they’re maybe having a bad day?
Or because you disagree with their “civility” (like wearing an American flag)?
If Delta follows through with their latest policy, they won’t end up having any customers left.
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