ATLANTA — As other airlines are beginning to loosen some of their COVID restrictions, Delta Air Lines said in a note to its employees on Thursday that the company is still taking a hard line to keep passengers and crew safe.
The note from CEO Ed Bastian reports that 460 people have been added to the airline's no-fly list for refusing to comply with its mask requirements. That's up from about 120 bans in early August.
"Wearing a mask is among the simplest and most effective actions we can take to reduce transmission, which is why Delta has long required them for our customers and our people."
Bastian also pointed to "significant increases of infections in may states" as part of the reason the company has continued to implement it's various COVID-19 precautious - and rules.
"Please continue the great work of keeping yourself, your colleagues, our customers and our communities safe and healthy," Bastian said. "With the cold-weather months approaching, stopping the spread will be crucial to our recovery from the pandemic and Delta’s return to growth and leadership within our industry."
Another practice taken by Delta Air Lines in recent months has been leaving middle seats empty to allow for more social distancing. However, as Delta announces its flight bans, other airlines who also followed the middle-seat strategy have announced they are lifting it.
Southwest Airlines recently announced it will begin filling all available seats on Dec. 1. American and United have already begun filling middle seats. Delta is expected to do the same some time in the first half of 2021.
USA TODAY reports that Southwest Airlines' CEO, in a recent earnings call, said the practice of having empty middle seats was not a part of the company's safety response.
"This was really about customer confidence and getting them comfortable traveling again," Tom Nealon said.
It's a very different perspective from Delta which said it had made the middle seat skip decision with the help of the medical community.
“Medical experts, including our own partners at Emory Healthcare, agree – more distance on board makes a difference,” said Bill Lentsch, the company's chief customer experience officer said in August.