If this “Let’s Go Brandon” mask story really did occur as told by the passenger, I have a big problem with an oversensitive JetBlue flight attendant.
Man Thrown Off JetBlue Flight Even After Removing “Let’s Go Brandon” Mask
Video shows a man in a surgical mask being asked by a member of JetBlue ground staff to disembark the plane. He complies, standing up, turning toward other passengers and remarking that he had removed his “Let’s Go Brandon” mask when asked, but simply wanted to film the interaction.
I don’t blame him. In an era in which flight attendants can twist your words in an attempt to find a false pretense to throw you off the flight, it makes sense to cover your tracks.
The passenger goes on to claim that flight attendant “Michael” threw him off the flight because he was offended by the mask.
We don’t know what happened before the cameras began rolling. It isn’t clear how aggressive the passenger or flight attendant were or how quickly the passenger complied with the request and what language he used.
Therefore, to a degree this is simply a theoretical discussion.
The partisan Daily Caller did look into the story and even interviewed the passenger, Ryan Salo, who was traveling on JetBlue from Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) to Cleveland (CLE). Salo said he wore the mask on the outbound flight without issue and flight attendants even joked about it. It wasn’t until the return flight was about to takeoff when a flight attendant approached him with a surgical mask and asked him to switch. Salo initially questioned why he should have to switch masks, asking the flight attendant to cite the specific policy, but did eventually comply…on the condition that the flight attendant tell him on camera the mask was not permitted. Instead, he was thrown off the flight.
I’ve long condemned “Let’s Go Brandon” or “F 12” masks as childish and inappropriate. It takes a certain amount of desperateness to use profanity, directly stated or implied, to make your point.
That said, if a flight attendant tells you to change your mask (remember, there are no free speech rights on an airplane) and you comply, you should not then be thrown off.
Of course it made the flight attendant uncomfortable to be filmed. Too bad. He wasn’t the only party offended: the passenger was too and in the foul state of political discourse in this country, it does not strike me as unreasonable to point out the unevenness of what constiutes offensive.
JetBlue does not have an official photography policy onboard. In the past, JetBlue has said:
“Our crewmembers use their professional judgment in evaluating the appropriate use of photography or videography on board, especially when it involves the privacy of other customers and the safe and secure operations of the airline.”
Passengers are expected to abide by crew member instructions – but what about when the crew may be overstepping its bound?
“Failure to do so, or otherwise demonstrating a potential risk of escalation or confrontation with customers or crew members in flight, may result in a customer being removed from the aircraft.”
Under that policy was their any justification to throw Salo off? I suppose…but that policy is so broad there is room to throw anyone off for anything.
CONCLUSION
The unknowns of this specific story aside, I hope we can all agree that if someone is wearing a mask deemed offensive, is asked to remove it, and does so, he should not be thrown off a flight. Furthermore, crew better get used to being filmed, because this is the way of the future. Holding flight attendants accountable is sometimes only possible by filming them.
That said, I’m looking forward to the mask mandate being lifted since the “Let’s Go Brandon” types will probably be the first to ditch their masks.
Our ability to protest the govt is what keeps our democracy alive and prevents us from becoming Russia! I like how all you liberal snowflakes had no problem with everyone tell trump to go screw off. That was ok but you can’t handle a little let’s go Brandon mask. That FA should be fired. Thank God I’ve in a free state where no one has ever worn stupid masks that don’t work. Home prices keep going up since millions of people fleeing the oppressive blue states and going south. Kinda funny how history has reversed itself.
So upset. Be careful you don’t break your keyboard.
Exactly. Not a chance I would switch face masks because a snowflake FA didn’t like it. And I love the author’s lame, woke shot at the end. No, it’s not just Let’s Go Brandon types that will ditch their masks asap. It’s anyone with half a brain that realizes it’s all theater.
That last line wasn’t intended as an insult – here in LA the mask mandate has been lifted and the majority of people (not me) are still wearing masks in grocery stores, gyms, and some are even still wearing them in their cars. When the airline mask mandate expires, I think we might be surprised at how many people continue to wear masks voluntary.
It’s funny to hear old people say woke. Only fox and old people say woke.
Let’s Go Boomers!
If wearing a mask is all theater, then please tell the surgical staff the next time you need surgery that they can leave masks off during the operation. There’s nothing to worry about, right? Who’s afraid of of a few germs. And regarding home prices, check out realtor.com and see what’s going on in California. Prices are going through the roof. That’s not just happening in red states, sorry to disappoint your narrative.
Stuart,
The OR (Operating Room/Surgical Theatre) is to be considered at all times a sterile environment. PPE is donned to maintain what is called a “Sterile Field”. That Sterile Field is so critical that it cannot be crossed or passed over at any point presurgical even with donned PPE. The surgical masks are barrier protection just like gloves, masks, coats, gowns. The masks worn are merely the surgical style, not N95 or respirators, unless it’s a TB (Tuberculosis) case known/suspected and few other AATD of which this has not been officially inducted. They are a barrier protection against splash, patient to surgical team, during the procedure and no more no less. They are barrier protection against introduction of normal/foreign flora oral or otherwise that can occur when a person is speaking and the patient is highly susceptible.
Please stop using the Surgical Theatre/OR as your argument, you’ve just been debunked. If you tell me you’re a surgeon, I’d like to know what hospital/medical system that way I can avoid such a place of neurotic hyper-paranoia.
I recently asked a Surgeon friend of mine about masks in the OR and he sighed and responded, that he always understood that he worse a mask in the OR mainly for bacterial control and secondarily for fungal control.
He always understood that viruses were too small to be stopped by the mask he wears in the OR and that in most cases viruses were not a root cause of post surgical complications.
However, he did add that there maybe other reasons why Public Health recommended masking and he always advises people to follow public health, his personal understanding does not matter during a pandemic.
So take it all with a grain of salt.
A friend of mine is a surgeon and I recently asked him about masking in the OR.
The first thing he did was sigh, then he said regardless of my personal understanding of why I wear a mask in the OR, you (and everyone else) should follow all Public Health guidance.
He then said that he always understood the reason he wore a mask in the OR was mainly for bacterial control and also for fungal control. He said that he never understood that the mask he wears in the OR would be majorly beneficial for viral control due to the size of viruses which are much much smaller than bacteria.
As well he added that generally the biggest concern during and after an operation is bacterial infection, there is less of a concern about viral infections which are much harder to control in general.
With that he again added that I (and everyone else) should follow all Public Health recommendations because they may more understanding or other reasons for making a recommendation beyond what he understands as a community level surgeon.
In all fairness, the previous guy was a cretin, a buffoon, and a dangerous criminal, so it’s not surprising that people lashed out.
Although I still think it’s wrong to subject the public to profanity to get the point across.
You know Donnie is the king of snowflakes right?
Enjoy your Bud Light sweet girl.
I believe the mask is childish… and does more to divide the country… however, our society has gotten pretty far off course…
Morons on one side can’t wear a lets go Brandon mask, but the morons on the other side can let something like WAP play on the radio…
What does a sex-positive hit song have to do with saying F*** the President of the US? The latter is far more offensive than anything about WAP.
chasgoose
They both show the lack of class both sides have…
WAP is just a song. It has no political affiliation. That being said I do think this reaction to his mask is rather useless.
I don’t think a mask that is advocating for racial equity and fair policing is morally equivalent to one that is simply saying “I don’t like the president,” but you could argue there’s probably not a need for profanity on an airplane. With that being said, the F Word d0esn’t hurt a single person, and I’m really not too sympathetic to people who get offended by it. If everyone ignored the messages people like this were making, we’d never hear about it, and they’d probably just stop.
I’m pretty sure that if Vladimir Putin was president of the United States we wouldn’t have to worry about these nasty flight attendants taking away freedoms. We need regime change here at home.
We still had to wear masks on planes the last year Vlad was in charge.
I wouldn’t trust the LGB guy. He’s shown that he was intentionally wearing something offensive simply to anger people who feel differently. In other words, a troll. That makes his subjective take on things completely worthless. I’m disappointed that you’re siding with him.
The guy strikes me as a selfish lout, but if he removed the mask, even grudgingly, he should have been allowed to stay IMO.
Agree. Just because he complied on the ground, doesn’t mean he was going to comply once airborne, and it’s harder for me to give him the benefit of the doubt when he was intentionally trolling by wearing the mask in the first place. Plus the demand that he get to film the FA is not as innocent as it might initially seen given the myriad horror stories we have heard from people who unwittingly get in the crosshairs of right wing internet trolls. Even a slight risk of that happening to me would be enough for me to refuse that request.
While I understand (especially with your strong personal feelings on the matter from your experiences) that you think the FA went too far here. This is a much different situation for getting kicked off a flight for merely taking pictures. While some of them are harmless, there are plenty “Lets Go Brandon” who think nothing of harassing innocent people for the most innocent of slights. Even if this guy just posted the video to a right-wing site or had enough of a following and did nothing more, it only takes a few bad apples that see the video before the FA would be looking at getting doxxed, receiving death threats against them and their family, internet bullying, and a whole bunch of other nasty attacks that could put them in danger of actual harm. The FA had every right and was also correct to refuse to let the passenger film him saying something that could end up directing harm their way. In other words, the demand from the passenger to film the FA could very reasonably be read as a threat of future harm, which would certainly be justification to remove the passenger from the flight, even if he had already complied with instructions. This is not me using hyperbole or being a “snowflake” (which is a rich charge coming from people who support not teaching history accurately because white children might feel bad about our country’s brutal past or not even saying the word gay in a non-sexual context, like if a kid has same-sex parents), this is a very real thing that happens to people who happen to get noticed by the wrong people.
I guess the FA could have just refused to let the passenger film him and move on, but even then, there’s a chance that the passenger won’t let things go and that things could further devolve once they are airborne, at which point the FA would have a more problematic situation. If you consider that the passenger’s request to film could reasonably be interpreted as a threat by the FA, then it’s far easier to see why the FA decided that was enough to throw the passenger off the plane.
They always look like that.
Hey Matt,
I’m glad to see you’ve returned traveling, good on ya!
Given your closing thought, which speaks volumes to your prejudice regardless of how innocuously pretty you use your tongue/words, you’d see me as one among the “Let’s Go Brandon” types as I will be first to ditch my mask. Quite sad that today amidst all of this garbage going on in the world you will compartmentalise people without evidence, quite the sad tale you write of/for yourself. Me? Politically neutral no affiliations whatsoever. You’d choose to affiliate me with what I am not, merely because I won’t wear a mask as soon as it’s not required, how unfortunate.
Would you also use this prejudiced mindset against those that acquired this CoVID-19. Based upon your closing thought you should since you’re using it as a means to place an identity on others, yet, you’ve contracted this virus. Me? I’ve had high exposure direct and indirect through my work in a Hospital setting among those who’ve acquired this bug. Traveled internationally as this thing began it’s spread throughout Spain (March 2020). Traveled internationally multiple times in 2021. Traveled intra and interstate during this entire CoVID-19 season (2+ years). Have an autoimmune disorder (SLE). Take immunosuppressant therapy daily and monthly from the time I was 15 years old. My wife is a teacher with weekly notifications of cases at the elementary school. Have worn cloth masks from the beginning of mask mandates and I’ve been vaxx’d since December 2020 & triple x’d since Sept 2021. My wife/son/myself have not ever tested positive via multiple IgG/Antigen/PCR tests. Using your same mindset of compartmentalisation, where would you put yourself? Where would you put those of that have not ever contracted Co-VID19?
Put an end to bias by looking inward and apply that mindset to self first and no-one else. A different world cannot be made by indifferent people. Let’s be the very best of humanity. I’m off my soapbox now.
I enjoy your blog immensely.
You microdose, don’t you?
Thanks for your comment @Hey_It’s_That_Vaxxx’d_Guy!
It was not my intention to imply that only the “Let’s Go Brandon” types will remove their masks. I will absolutely remove my mask on day one the mandate is lifted and have no desire to wear one again, even during cold/flu season. It is a risk I am comfortable taking. While masks are helpful, they have come to symbolize heavy-handed overreach during the pandemic (in so many ways, not just masks) which I do not support.
That said, isn’t it a fair assumption, based upon all we have seen and observed, that these sorts of passengers will gladly take off their FJB masks if they don’t have to wear a mask at all?
Again, I wasn’t making a mutually-exclusive case, because I fall outside the “Let’s Go Brandon” camp and still cannot wait to ditch the mask.
Maybe the phrase should be changed to “Let’s Go Biden!” but retain the same meaning?
Elon musk has shown us the way. A representative of maskers and anti maskers should get into a punching and wrestling match for ten minutes and the winner gets to decide, well nothing. This is for just our entertainment. I bet biden can beat the living daylights out of trump.
The issue is whether we allow anyone unchecked authority without oversight. This applies to LEO, politicians, health officials and yes, even airline staff. Why? Because with authority comes responsibility. If a flight attendant can wield that much power they need to endure a commensurate level of scrutiny.
This should not be a divisive concept!! We allow certain people to have authority over us. WE allow it. They grant us nothing.
We get bogged down in tribal arguments which distracts from the larger principle. Maybe you like the police, maybe you don’t. Maybe you want to say F Trump, or LGB. The principle needs to exist regardless.
When you buy a ticket you are essentially also signing a contract where you acknowledge that FAs might throw you off for almost any reason no matter how silly. That’s what the T&C’s are for. Yes you have no ability to negotiate, but SCOTUS has held those types of contracts up as constitutional time and time again and they certainly aren’t budging on that given the current make-up of the court (the only sitting Justice that has consistently voted against allowing these types of contracts is Sotomayor).
Jetblue’s contract of carriage clearly states that clothing that is patently offensive is prohibited, regardless of your political affiliation, the airline has an obligation to maintain a positive and comfortable environment for all traveller’s onboard and this slogan, a euphemism for “FJB” is unnecessary. You certainly have the right to free speech, but no such right to fly. While he may have eventually complied, it wasn’t without trying to intimidate the flight attendant by threatening him, demanding he make the change request while recording him and there are specific FARs about that type of behavior (121.580). No matter your beliefs on masks or political affiliation is, how about you try not to provoke or be a douchebag?
As I said, the passenger had no reasonable expectation or right to wear that mask.
But I don’t blame any passenger for wishing to capture on video an instruction that is not evenly applied or enforced.
But why should a passenger have that right? If they are trollish to wear the mask in the first place, its at least somewhat likely they are trollish enough to post that video on the internet, which could subject that FA to extreme and potentially dangerous harassment from the people those spaces that take things way too far. Applying or enforcing rules inconsistently isn’t enough to deserve that kind of punishment, especially when FAs and pilots have (and when we buy our tickets we agree to give them) a lot of leeway when determining who should be kicked off the plane.
I know accountability is important, but it’s not important enough to put the FA in danger of harassment or serious threats to their safety. We have no idea the tone or the demeanor of the LGB guy, when he demanded the FA say what they were doing on video. Depending on how he was presenting his request, I could easily see the FA interpreting as a threat more than a reasonable, serious request.
Mask mandates provide cover for the timid to remain timid anonymously. For some folks, the mask will never come off, and that’s their right. None of these mask mandates were voted on by the people or their representatives. All orders from authoritative, unaccountable Bureaucrats.
It’s amazing how liberals believe in total freedom of speech even dictating to an employer what they can wear as part of their uniform UNTIL it’s someone who believes the opposite of them.
Liberals claim they believe in science and facts until those facts go against what they believe. Then feelings are more important than science and facts. How many time have your head someone say that masking makes them feel safe. There’s no such things as feeling safe. Either you are safe or not safe. A cloth mask is useless. An N95 mask not properly worn and fitted is useless.
Liberals are no longer satisfied with equality. They believe anyone who does not agree with them must change their personal beliefs or they will be cancelled. Liberals will only tolerate you if you accept their beliefs 100%. You must comply and accept liberal beliefs. No exceptions.
The first amendment is irrelevant on board a commercial aircraft.
The government is not restricting anyone’s speech in this case. JetBlue is, and JetBlue can tell you not to use the word “Trump” if they so choose. It is then your choice as to whether you want to fly on their aircraft.
This is not brain surgery.
People need to listen to flight attendants. Period. Enough verbal assault, enough FA punching.
The idea that this was a legitimate political protest is nonsense. It was one more belligerent jerk attempting to “own the libs” when he owned himself.
I support free speech and peaceful protest. But there are better and worse places, and right now I can think of few worse than an airplane.
The founding fathers never intended for free speech to be a free-for-all. They were men of the Enlightenment – the age of reason. They expected restraint in speech – they just moved the role of censorship from the government to the individual.
The Founding Fathers would have been revolted by “Let’s Go Brandon.”
It’s very sad to know there are people who think like you. You are completely representing the founding fathers and the history that brought us the freedom of speech that we have now. Have you ever had to fight for a freedom before, or are you simply okay with giving it all up because you have an extremely limited worldview? Did you ever stop to think about how offensive the BLM pins these stewards wear are to some people? Recall that BLM is a racist, terrorist, organizations whose senior leaders are either highly profiting off their extortion campaigns are are sexual predators.
FAs need to learn to treat customers with more respect. A citizen like this can go into a grocery store without being assaulted yet airlines get to mistreat under the same circumstances? Who works for who here? Stewards are just petty people with petty powers. There is no law against recording stewards on an aircraft, in fact, many have policies reminding employees that they have the full right to do so. The Supreme Court even ruled against cops who claimed they couldn’t be filmed. You can always make some practical argument about not recording others but it is not a freedom, pro-liberty position. By your logic, you’ld be living in a perfect prison with absolute security and safety.
And for all you people who think this steward will be doxxed and harassed, again recall that is something the LEFT does. The right is too lazy to do anything about injustices. Don’t try to play victim or project that onto this steward. If this steward can’t deal with diversity of thought, he should go back to shoveling fries at McDonalds.
JetBlue has a history of show hate towards Republicans and even been firing Republican employees who post on their private site social media meanwhile the lefties are all showing their hate about right wing elected officials and coworkers that are seen publicly. Just like their Director of HR does, all because they are Democrats and believe they can do it, but Republicans can’t.
LGB is as much sarcasm about the selective behaviour of the media as it is about Biden
I wonder if they will let me wear my Let’s Go Brandon mask when masks are no longer allowed?
I meant required. Early morning after a long flight.
Are you kidding?
He was asked to swap the mask and instead of complying, he bitched and moaned and started filming before finally putting on the big boy mask, probably after he was told that he was getting kicked off.
That isn’t “complying”, and the instant he refused the first time the FA was in the clear to remove him per their CoC.
You are way off base on this one.
Yep, the guy was clearly agitated and angry and certainly not compliant. The flight attendant did the right thing for not following a simple diection.
I would like to start a new camp, exclusively comprised of people who don’t want to wear masks anymore, think that the flight attendant was a bit too sensitive, and still looked at the picture and thought “of course that’s the guy who was wearing a LGB mask.”
I live in Florida and it just seems that all of this stuff.. whether be on the pax or the fa… Always involves flights to or from Florida…