United Airlines has banned a Florida man who tried to fly on one of its jets wearing a skimpy thong as a face mask. Adam Jenne says he has successfully flown two dozen times wearing underwear as a mask but this time the United flight attendants didn’t see the funny side.
Jenne was due to fly with United from Fort Lauderdale to Washington D.C. on Wednesday but before the plane had even left the gate a flight attendant questioned his choice of face mask.
United requires all customers aged two and older to wear a face mask with no vents or openings and that fully covers both the mouth and nose. The airline specifically bars bandanas but makes no mention of underwear in its face mask guidelines.
Jenne argued with the flight crew saying that he believed he was in compliance with the Biden administration’s face mask mandate because the bright red thong covered both his mouth and nose.
That argument failed to convince the flight attendants who quickly called a manager who in turn ordered Jenne off the plane.
Jenne claims he has now been banned from future travel with United while the airline says it has provided him with a refund.
Speaking to local news station NBC2, Jenne made comparisons between civil rights campaigners and his face mask protest. He says he refuses to wear a face mask at all when in an airport apart from when passing through the TSA checkpoint.
United didn’t let that argument fly, saying in a statement: “the customer clearly wasn’t in compliance with the federal mask mandate and we appreciate that our team addressed the issue on the ground prior to takeoff, avoiding any potential disruptions on the air.”
Other passengers, however, stood up for Jenne and one unmasked passenger berated flight attendants for having him kicked off. He, along with several other passengers, reportedly walked off the aircraft in protest.
Jenne will try to Washington D.C. again but this time he’ll try his luck with Spirit he told local media.
Mateusz Maszczynski honed his skills as an international flight attendant at the most prominent airline in the Middle East and has been flying throughout the COVID-19 pandemic for a well-known European airline. Matt is passionate about the aviation industry and has become an expert in passenger experience and human-centric stories. Always keeping an ear close to the ground, Matt's industry insights, analysis and news coverage is frequently relied upon by some of the biggest names in journalism.