GOP senators push back against suggested 'no-fly list' for unruly passengers

A group of Republican senators is pushing back against an effort supported by some of the airline industry to create a government blacklist of violent and disruptive passengers. "Creating a federal 'no-fly' list for unruly passengers who are skeptical of this mandate would seemingly equate them to terrorists who seek to actively take the lives of Americans and perpetrate attacks on the homeland," the senators wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland dated Monday. Nearly 500 unruly passenger incidents have been reported in the first six weeks of 2022, Federal Aviation Administration data show, for a total of more than 6,400 since the start of 2021. About two-thirds of the reports this year allege violations of the federal mask mandate. The FAA said Wednesday it has referred a total of 80 incidents to the Justice Department to consider criminal prosecution. The spike in incidents has airlines calling for a government-coordinated "no-fly list" for passengers who create in-flight disturbances. Proponents say it would be separate from the existing government-run list that is part of the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database. The Senate group says they "strongly condemn" the violence, but urge the Justice Department to reject the request. "The creation of this list by DOJ would result in a severe restriction on the ability of citizens to fully exercise their constitutional right to engage in interstate transportation," they wrote, and said the matter should be decided by Congress.<br/>