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Airlines and airports say they are stepping up security ahead of next week’s presidential inauguration, with Delta and other major airlines saying they will ban passengers to the Washington area from putting up weapons in checked baggage.
These moves follow the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump and politically-tinged clashes on some flights.
Delta Air Lines was the first to announce Thursday that it would ban gun controls at Washington-area airports and was followed later today by United, Alaska, American and Southwest. All said their bans would start on Saturday and continue on inauguration day until January 23.
“We are all on high alert based on the events of the past two weeks in Washington,” CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC on Thursday.
Spirit and JetBlue did not respond to requests for comment.
Airlines have also announced other measures. American Airlines is reinstating the ban on serving alcohol on flights to and from the Washington area – flights are drying up Saturday through Thursday. Several airlines are moving crews out of downtown Washington hotels for their safety.
Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that it would strengthen enforcement of the rules against interference or assault from airline crew members or other passengers. The FAA said that over the next two months it would stop giving warnings to offenders and instead refer their cases to law enforcement for possible charges, fines and jail time.
FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson cited recent aircraft disruptions, adding that there has been “a trend after the Capitol split last week.”
Leading lawmakers and the head of the nation’s largest flight attendant union have called on the FBI to put rioters on Capitol Hill on the federal no-fly list. An FBI spokesperson declined to say whether rioters had been added to the watch list, although an FBI official said on Tuesday that such a move was being considered.
Until now, it has been the responsibility of the country’s airlines to prevent an in-flight incident from spiraling out of control by threatening to ban people who refuse to wear masks or ignore flight attendant orders.
Earlier last week, several Trump supporters at an airport and on a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Washington heckled Senator Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican who criticized Trump and voted last year to remove him from office. Bastian said the rowdies were identified with the help of airline employees and other passengers.
“There are six people, and they’ll never fly Delta again,” Bastian told The Associated Press. “They have already been informed.”
Days later, another Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, was harassed in the Reagan National Airport terminal in Washington after voting, in effect, to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over Trump. At around the same time, Alaska Airlines said it banned 14 passengers who harassed crew members and refused to wear masks on a flight from the Washington area to Seattle.
Bastian said Delta had “dramatically increased our security, both visible and invisible on planes and at airports,” ahead of Biden’s inauguration next Wednesday.
American said it is also adding more security personnel at Washington-area airports for inauguration week and will change its front door announcements to remind passengers to follow crew instructions and to wear face masks, spokesman Curtis Blessing said.
The airline is also moving crews from downtown hotels to hotels closer to airports and hiring private transportation for them. Last week, passengers on an airport shuttle bound for Reagan Airport made racist slurs against a black flight attendant, according to the union representing U.S. flight attendants.
Travelers passing through Reagan National Airport or Dulles International Airport outside of Washington should expect to see more police presence during the grand opening, said Micah Lillard, spokesperson for Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. He declined to give details.
Jeffrey Price, an aviation safety expert at Metropolitan State University in Denver, said the federal government needs to deploy more air marshals and other personnel on planes flying to and from the DC area.
“There have been too many incidents of flight disruptions, and the flight crew should not be expected to deal with them, lest they turn violent,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security declined to discuss the staffing decisions on Thursday, although an announcement could be made soon.
Price also said it was “a good idea” to ban passengers from putting guns in checked baggage if they are flying into Washington. “After the inauguration, I think we can lift the ban on controlled firearms,” he said.
Federal law allows passengers to put guns in checked baggage if they are unloaded and placed in a locked hard case, although airlines have the discretion to ban firearms. Federal law prohibits firearms or ammunition in carry-on baggage.
Two days after the Capitol riot, TSA screening officers at Reagan Airport arrested a departing passenger who had 100 bullets in his carry-on baggage. It is not unusual for people to pack weapons or ammunition in bags that they intend to bring on planes – they usually say they forget it was there, and they are rarely prosecuted – but the timing of the incident drew attention.
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David Koenig can be reached at www.twitter.com/airlinewriter
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