Coronavirus: American Airlines passenger removed for not wearing mask

American Airlines has removed a passenger from a flight after he refused to wear a face covering in compliance with its Covid-19 safety policy.

Brandon Straka was asked to wear a face mask on Flight 1263 from New York to Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday.

When Mr Straka refused, he was asked to leave the flight, the airline said.

Mr Straka said there was no law that required him to wear a face covering on the flight.

“I was just removed from my flight for not wearing a mask. 1st time this has happened. Not a federal law,” Mr Straka tweeted from New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

I was just removed from my flight for not wearing a mask. 1st time this has happened. Not a federal law. @AmericanAir staff standing over me telling me it’s THE LAW. So much for “please respect those who can not wear a mask”. When I pointed out this wasn’t a law I was removed.

— Brandon Straka (@BrandonStraka) June 17, 2020

Face masks have been used to mitigate the risk of spreading coronavirus during the pandemic.

While there is no federal law mandating masks on US flights, all major US airlines have been enforcing face covering rules for passengers and crew since mid-May.

On Monday, American Airlines announced “a stronger policy for customer face coverings”. It said customers who refused to wear face coverings would not be allowed to board and could be banned from future travel.

Source: BBC