DC flights ban checked guns
Airlines temporarily forbidding guns in luggage over security threats.
Travelers boarding flights to Washington, D.C., ahead of the inauguration will not be allowed to check firearms on several airlines and face increased security measures on all carriers.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said that starting this weekend the airline will ban passengers traveling to Washington, D.C., from checking firearms as part of increased security measures ahead of the inauguration.
“We’re all on high alert based on the events over the last couple of weeks up in Washington,” Bastian said in an interview on CNBC early Thursday.
Only law enforcement officials will be exempt from the ban.
Bastian said the airline also will add security measures at the airports and on planes – seen and unseen. “I don’t want to overreact. I think this is a moment hopefully in time with the outcry around the election results.”
Alaska Airlines, which banned 14 passengers from flying the carrier during the pandemic after they were rowdy
and wouldn't wear masks on a flight from Washington last week, United Airlines and American Airlines joined Delta in temporarily banning firearms on flights to Baltimore/Washington International Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport. United Airlines also included flights to Richmond International Airport and noted law enforcement officials and active duty military traveling on orders would be exempt.
All major airlines stepped up security on flights leaving Washington last weekend after the attack on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 and incidents on Washington-bound flights leading up to it.
Now airlines are assuming a similar posture ahead of the inauguration.
In addition to banning firearms, Seattle-based Alaska said it plans to reduce the number of tickets sold on flights to and from the D.C. metro area to support law enforcement calls to avoid travel to the area. It will require all passengers on flights to and from metro D.C. to remain in their seats for an hour after takeoff and during landing.
United, which said it banned about 60 people the week of Jan. 4 for not complying with its mask policy, will relocate crew members to hotels outside downtown Washington and increase staffing at area airports.
Southwest Airlines is giving flight attendants stronger language to use for in-flight announcements to use as a “last resort” if passengers aren’t complying with its mask policy or are otherwise misbehaving, according to a memo sent to flight attendants Thursday and obtained by USA TODAY.