Airlines bar passengers from traveling with guns on D.C.-bound flights

WASHINGTON — Major U.S. airlines are barring passengers on District of Columbia-bound flights from traveling with firearms ahead of next week’s presidential inauguration — the latest in a series of steps air carriers have taken amid concerns about passenger safety.

In a statement, Delta said it made the decision after weighing the violence at the U.S. Capitol last week alongside the airline’s “unwavering commitment to the safety of customers and our people.”

“Nothing is more important than doing our part to keep people safe,” the airline said.

Alaska Airlines’ ban will take effect Friday; American, Frontier, Delta and United will begin theirs Saturday. The policy will remain in effect through Jan. 23, the carriers said. Airlines said exceptions will be made for law enforcement officials with proper credentials and active duty military traveling on orders.

Under Transportation Security Administration rules, passengers can bring unloaded firearms on flights, but they must be placed inside checked baggage and secured in locked, hard-sided cases. Passengers must tell the airline that they are traveling with firearms during the checkin process. Ammunition can be carried but also must be transported in checked baggage.

Alaska Airlines, which banned 14 people for unruly behavior on a flight from Washington to Seattle the day after the attack on the Capitol, also said it will limit the number of seats it sells on flights to and from the nation’s capital. Passengers on those flights will be required to remain seated during the first and last hour of their flights.

The heightened concern for safety on airplanes and at airports comes after last week’s violence and the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. Some pro-Trump groups have pledged to return to the nation’s capital.