Banned From American Airlines, Face Mask Holdout Plans Flight To Tulsa For Trump Rally

On Thursday, Brandon Straka became the first passenger to be banned from a U.S. airline because he refused to wear a face mask. This did not seem to bother him.

Rather, his concern has shifted to flying from Seattle to Tulsa on Friday in order to attend a Saturday rally for President Trump, whom he admires.

“It was fine,” Straka said of his flight experience on American Airlines
AAL
on Wednesday. “Everybody was nice. I never had a problem except for that one flight,” where he was removed for not wearing a mask. He spoke by phone from Seattle late Thursday, after American said he will no longer be entitled to fly on its aircraft.

Straka, 43, is a provocateur who drew social media attention Wednesday for testing American’s newly instituted policy of enforcing a requirement that passengers wear masks, an effort to reduce onboard risk during the coronavirus crisis.

The policy has an exemption for passengers who have a medical condition, and American said that at various times during the day Straka claimed a medical condition. He did not specify what the condition was.

On Wednesday, Straka boarded a LaGuardia flight, headed for Seattle via Dallas. He wore a mask while boarding, then removed it.  He was subsequently removed from the flight.

After a discussion when he agreed to comply with American policy, he was rerouted to Seattle via Charlotte.  “On both flights, I was one of several not wearing a mask,” he said.

On Thursday, while Straka was in Seattle, filming and interviewing participants in a protest, an American representative called him to say he is no longer welcome on the carrier. American refunded Straka for his unused Seattle-Dallas-Tulsa ticket.

Straka said he was surprised to lose his flight privileges. “I didn’t think we had an issue anymore,” he said. “When I landed in Charlotte, I was greeted by a manager; he was a nice guy; we had a nice conversation.”

On Friday, Straka said, his attention would be focused on getting to Tulsa, and then on getting home to New York.

He was vague about which carriers he will fly on and whether he will wear a mask when he does fly. He said an assistant had booked his flights.

“I have to feel out how the situation goes,” he said “I live on the other side of the country, I’m flying to Tulsa tomorrow for the Trump rally. Then I have to get home. I have to assess, (and do) whatever I have to do to get home”.

Straka said that through social media, he had received several hundred communications, including death threats, in reaction to his refusal to wear a mask. He said he did about 15 media interviews on Thursday. He seemed cheerful.

In a statement issued Thursday, American said it deprived Straka of flight privileges because “he failed to comply with our stated policy and crew member instructions.

“We are committed to protecting the safety and well-being of our customers and team members, which is why we strengthened enforcement of our policy for required face coverings on board,” the carrier said. “We expect customers who choose to fly with us to comply with these policies, and if necessary, we will deny future travel for customers who refuse to do so.”

“Mr. Straka will be permitted to fly with us once face coverings are no longer required for customers.” American said.