American Airlines temporarily bans passenger who refused to wear a face mask on flight

American Airlines has temporarily banned a passenger who refused to wear a face mask and was subsequently kicked off a flight Wednesday. Masks are required by the airline's coronavirus policy.

“American Airlines thoroughly reviewed an incident on June 17 involving one of our customers, Brandon Straka. As a result of this review, Mr. Straka will not be permitted to fly American, as he failed to comply with our stated policy and crewmember instructions," the airline said in a statement.

"We are committed to protecting the safety and well-being of our customers and team members, which is why we strengthened enforcement of our policy for required face coverings on board. We expect customers who choose to fly with us to comply with these policies, and if necessary, we will deny future travel for customers who refuse to do so."

In a statement to USA TODAY, Straka declined to disclose any medical details publicly, instead striking out at mask policies and invoking the social unrest that has followed the death of George Floyd, who was killed on Memorial Day when a police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.

"Americans have witnessed hypocritical and blatant one-sided political application to the rules and guidelines surrounding coronavirus, to the point of even being told that not following recommendations is acceptable when joining protests for Black Lives Matter," claimed Straka.

American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein previously told USA TODAY that on Wednesday, "prior to the departure from the gate of American Airlines flight 1263 from New York’s LaGuardia to Dallas/Fort Worth, Brandon Straka declined to wear a face covering. After he refused to comply with the instructions provided by the flight crew, our team members asked him to deplane. He deplaned and the flight departed the gate four minutes late at 12:34 p.m. ET."

Straka tweeted: "I was just removed from my flight for not wearing a mask. 1st time this has happened. Not a federal law. @AmericanAir staff standing over me telling me it’s THE LAW. So much for 'please respect those who can not wear a mask'. When I pointed out this wasn’t a law I was removed ... AFTER removing me flight manager says – they made a mistake. They had no right to ask you that." He also discussed the incident in a selfie video on the platform.

A New York Times reporter, Astead Herndon, aboard the flight documented the incident on Twitter, both in tweets and on video.

He also took a screenshot of one of Straka's tweets, alleging the circumstances were different than Straka described.

"Absolutely not how the interaction went. Not only did this guy hold up the entire flight he is fabricating how the interaction went with the flight attendants for some twitter likes," Herndon wrote. "He said you never even asked me if I had a condition that makes me incapable or wearing a mask. The flight attendant was like well do you. He said yes. She asked if he had paperwork and he said no."

Straka replied to the tweet Herndon took a screenshot of, saying it was written before the first flight attendant approached him about the mask, calling it a "joke" regarding the general announcement about masks.

American said following the incident Straka stated he would comply with their policies and was rebooked on a later flight.

In its statement Thursday, American noted that restricting travel "is a step we take very seriously, and it will only occur after a comprehensive review of the facts of an incident. Mr. Straka will be permitted to fly with us once face coverings are no longer required for customers.”

United, American, Delta, Southwest, Alaska, Frontier and JetBlue have all announced passenger mask requirements.

American said it "may also deny future travel for customers who refuse to wear a face covering," according to a news release.

United Airlines doubled down on its mandatory mask policy and announced Monday that any passenger who refuses to comply with its mask requirement will be placed on an "internal travel restriction list," starting Thursday.

The Federal Aviation Administration won't require the wearing of masks on commercial aircraft, continuing to leave that question to individual airlines, the agency's chief said Wednesday.

The U.S. Department of Transportation will send nearly 100 million cloth face masks to airports, Amtrak and transit systems for passengers, the department said Friday.

Contributing: Andrea Mandell, Cydney Henderson, Dawn Gilbertson, Curtis Tate and Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: American Airlines bans passenger who refused to wear a face mask