WAPO: Hemming and hawing about banning unruly passengers on flights

[lindysalsagal]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/02/10/no-fly-list-delta-ceo/

The ‘no-fly’ list and unruly passengers, explained
Delta Air Lines wants to make disruptive customers eligible for an FBI watch list that keeps suspected terrorists off flights

By Hannah Sampson
Today at 10:59 a.m. EST

Airlines dealing with a rash of irate, disruptive and violent passengers since 2020 have banned many of those travelers from future flights. But Delta Air Lines CEO Edward H. Bastian said last week he wants the federal government’s help to place some offenders on a “national, comprehensive” list of unruly passengers that would keep them off any commercial airline.

Do airlines share no-fly lists with each other? In short: no. Delta said in September that it had asked other airlines to share their own no-fly lists, noting that “a list of banned customers doesn’t work as well if that customer can fly with another airline.” But at the time, a representative for the trade group Airlines for America told a House Transportation Committee hearing that there were “legal and operational challenges” with sharing that information between carriers.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance on Monday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the government supports airlines taking action to protect their passengers and crew by banning people from flying. But he acknowledged that “it gets a little more complex” when there is an effort to involve the government in that process.

“We should continue to look at what we can do at a policy level knowing that there’s a lot of complexity when you try to do that in a way that cuts across airlines and is developed by the government,” he told the outlet. He said on CNN that such a list “should be on the table” in October.

[SWBTATTReg]

1. I thought that they already shared such information, but I guess I was naive in thinking this...

Perhaps in the heat of competition, companies don't want to share anymore, perhaps fearing that a competitor may let others know of an airline's issues w/ unruly passengers, in the battle for customers. Wrong for an airline to use negative information in this manner,
IMHO of course, as I suspect that the entire Industry should be focused as one entity, in protecting all (passengers, workers) from disruptive passengers.

[lagomorph777]

2. Why is this even open for debate?

Instant "NO FLY" list for these assholes!