President Joe Biden says that maskless air passengers on airports and airplanes will have to deal with steeper fines. Those who will refuse to wear masks could potentially pay thousands of dollars in fines.
Starting Friday, the Department of Homeland Security will penalize airline passengers who refuse to mask with higher fines. For the first offense, the penalty could range from $500 to $1,000. Repeat offenders, on the other hand, will have to pay fines from $1000 to $3000.
One of the first things Joe Biden did after his inauguration as president is to impose a mask mandate. The Biden administration made mask-wearing mandatory on airplanes, buses, trains, and airports. Since then, the mask mandate was already extended twice. Airline passengers will have to wear masks on planes at least until January 18, 2022.
On Thursday, Biden said, “By the way, show some respect”. He added that “The behavior shown toward flight attendants and gate agents is wrong. It’s ugly”.
Airline employees are currently dealing with an increased number of unruly passengers. Some cases even involved passengers physically hurting flight attendants. Biden said that “If you break the rules, be prepared to pay”.
The Federal Aviation Authority already received more than 4,000 reports of unruly passengers this year. To make matters worse, the majority of those cases involved maskless airline passengers. More than 3,000 cases involved individuals who refused to comply with the federal mask mandate.
In March, the FAA announced its “zero-tolerance policy”. Despite this move, non-compliance to the mask mandate and violence on flights continued. Flight attendants from American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and other airlines have asked federal law enforcement for help. The president of the Association of Flight Attendants, Sara Nelson, wants law enforcement to arrest more unruly passengers.
According to the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas, “Wearing a mask protect the traveling public”. He also added that “We will continue to enforce the mask mandate as long as necessary to protect public health and safety”.
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