Alaska Airlines appears to have banned a Republican state senator from flying on its aircraft because she wore her face mask below her nose.
The business confirmed in a statement Lora Reinbold was now “not permitted to fly with us” for refusing to comply with instruction regarding “current mask policy”.
However, a video leaked on Twitter appears to show Reinbold did wear a covering but simply didn’t push it high enough up her face.
“We need you to pull the mask up, or I’m not going to let you on the flight,” the airline employee says on the videos, taken at Juneau International Airport.
“It is up,” Reinbold responds.
“It is not,” the employee responds. “It’s down below your nose. We can’t have it down.”
The state senator said she was suspended before getting a chance to speak to someone from Alaska and did not receive a “warning via a yellow card per their policy either”, according to a post on Facebook.
“There was no due process before a temporary decision that is ‘under review’ was made public,” she wrote. “Alaska Airlines sent information, including my name, to the media without my knowledge nor permission. I do believe constitutional rights are at risk under corporate COVID policies.”
It follows a federal mask mandate being issued in January, forcing all travellers on flights and public transport to wear a covering.
Reinbold, who has been a long-time critic of the policy, last year called Alaska Airlines staff “mask bullies”. The airline has so far banned more than 500 passengers for not wearing masks.
Whoa! A source just sent this video of Sen. Reinbold at the Juneau airport. She was refusing to wear the mask and the police got involved! She’s also filming @AlaskaAir employees and asking for their names. Hyper loose. A second video is below. #akleg pic.twitter.com/EfaoSU3K9k
— The Alaska Landmine (@alaskalandmine) April 22, 2021
