Florida Phoenix: “Flight attendants have been subject to unprecedented harassment over masks and more during the pandemic, and a U.S. House panel on Thursday heard the raw details of those ‘air rage’ incidents. While there are no hard data, the leader of the flight attendants’ union said the most aggression appears to occur in Southern states where there’s been pushback against mask mandates. Teddy Andrews, an attendant based in Charlotte, N.C., for American Airlines, told the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee he had ‘lost count’ of the number of times he’d been insulted. But he related one incident in particular that made him ‘question [his] career choice.’ Andrews said he asked a passenger to put his mask on properly, after the passenger had already brought another flight attendant to tears.”

“The passenger exploded, insisting he did not have to comply, and twice hurled racist slurs at Andrews, who is Black. The confrontation was one of thousands that have plagued flight attendants and other airline and airport as air travel has picked up – along with seeming frustration about mask mandates. Earlier this year, unruly passenger reports in 2021 were on pace to outnumber all previous years’ incidents combined, said Sara Nelson, leader of the Association of Flight Attendants. Of the 4,385 reports so far this year, nearly three-quarters were related to mask wearing, according to FAA data. Nelson said there are little hard data on demographic trends, but that survey results show more incidents in Southern hubs in North Carolina, Florida, and Texas airports where there is more discord over COVID-19 restrictions. ‘Incidents are more likely happening out of places where there has been a real inconsistent communication and very clear opposition to masks and dealing with this public health crisis,’ Nelson said.”