A Delta Flight Was Forced To Turn Around After Two Passengers Refused To Wear Masks

A Delta flight was recently forced to return to its gate after two passengers refused to wear masks, the airline said.

On July 23, Flight 1227 from Detroit to Atlanta returned to the gate "following two customers who were non-compliant with crew instructions," a Delta spokesperson said in a statement provided to BuzzFeed News.

The flight departed for Atlanta "after a short delay," the statement said. The two passengers were removed from the plane, CNN reported.

The incident occurred a day after Delta CEO's Ed Bastian said that passengers who refuse to wear masks will be banned from flying Delta.

"You cannot board a Delta plane unless you have a mask on,'' Bastian told Today on July 22. "If you board the plane and you insist on not wearing your mask, we will insist that you don't fly Delta into the future."

Bastian said that Delta had already banned more than 100 people from flying because of their refusal to wear masks.

The Delta spokesperson did not confirm whether the two passengers who were removed from the Atlanta-bound flight were banned from flying the airline in the future.

Like most other airlines, Delta requires customers to wear a face mask while traveling during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In its mask policy, the airline said that those with health conditions that prevented them from wearing masks were strongly encouraged to "reconsider travel" or be medically cleared prior to flying.

Delta also warned that it would suspend travel privileges for passengers who made false claims of health conditions to obtain exemptions from wearing masks.

In a separate incident, that was captured on cell phone video last week, a Delta passenger was removed from a flight after refusing to wear his mask properly, ClickOnDetroit reported.