Since airlines and regulators started requiring passengers to wear masks on planes, we have seen a lot of incidents related to mask compliance. I think that something that happened last night might be the most expensive mask incident yet.
The flight to London returned to Miami.
The incident involves American Airlines flight AA38 from Miami to London. There were a total of 142 people on the flight, including 129 passengers and 14 crew members.
The plane left after its scheduled departure time. The flight had to turn around after a passenger refused to comply with the federal mask mandate.
The decision was made to return to Miami after nearly 90 minutes. The plane was in the air for over two hours before landing back at its starting point.
There is a flight path for the diversion.
The incident was described in a statement by American Airlines.
American Airlines flight 38 with service from Miami to London returned to MIA due to a disruptive customer refusing to comply with the federal mask requirement. Local law enforcement met the plane at MIA. We apologize to our customers and thank our crew for their professionalism.
I think the airline couldn't find a crew to operate the flight since the initial crew timed out, so they tried to change the flight to 1AM.
The flight status for AA38 was last night.
How much is this diversion?
Airplane mask incidents usually happen on the ground before departure or upon arrival. We sometimes see a diversion along the way. In this case, the flight was canceled due to a mask incident.
I can't imagine how much it costs American Airlines.
Roughly three hours of fuel was burned, which is significant, and hopefully no fuel had to be dumped, which is sometimes necessary if a plane is over its maximum landing weight.
In these situations where a flight diverts and a crew times out, do we know if crews are paid for the scheduled block time, or just the hours flown?
American had to rebook all of these passengers, and on top of that American's flight from London to Miami was canceled today, so that's a lot of passengers to rebook.
The incident happened on a plane.
How do things like this happen?
When there are mask incidents, there are videos that go viral, but in this case there aren't many details about what happened. I have two general thoughts.
What was the passenger thinking? It is one thing if you book a cheap domestic ticket and act up, but you didn't actually invest that much in the flight. Traveling internationally takes a lot of effort. The passenger probably had to take a COVID-19 test, fill out travel forms, and so on.
Was the passenger being a jerk because of something? The passenger didn't change his perspective when he said "Hey, we're about to turn a 777 around and go back to Miami if you don't put your mask on." I hope that this person is charged and that they have to pay the cost of the diversion.
I can't help but wonder about the crew's deescalation skills, I wasn't on this flight. It is possible that the passenger was uncontrollable and the crew did everything right. Some people in the airline industry are better at getting passengers to comply with instructions than others, especially if the passenger has an attitude.
Was this diversion the only solution?
Did the crew do a good job of making the passenger aware of the consequences of their actions?
Wouldn't it have been possible to isolated this person in a part of the cabin away from other passengers?
The person could have been punished for their actions in the UK rather than returning to Miami.
I don't think the crew did a good job, but I think it's an interesting question. The passenger should be banned from flying American in the future.
There are many real life implications to airlines operating flights as scheduled. Some of the other passengers on that flight may have traveled to visit a dying loved one, or the plane may have been carrying essential cargo that could save lives. The environmental and cost implications of operating a flight to nowhere are not something that should be taken into account.
Is there a better way to handle this situation?
The bottom line.
The American Airlines flight from Miami to London returned to Miami due to a mask compliance incident. The airline operated a flight to nowhere for nearly three hours before the flight was canceled. I don't understand why a passenger would act this way. Hopefully the person is held responsible.
Were any OMAAT readers on this flight and able to tell us what happened? Do you think diversion is always the right solution, or is it an overreaction?
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