SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) – Passengers on a Salt Lake City flight to San Francisco had to wait an extra 45 minutes to get home because a man refused to wear a mask on board a flight Thanksgiving night.
Arresting documents show 44-year-old Joshua Colby Council refused to wear a mask while boarding and sitting on a Delta Air Lines Flight 1382.
Steven Labrum heard the news after flying to Salt Lake City from Portland, Maine. He says, “I would just be mad. It seems so inconsiderate.”
A probable cause statement indicates a gate agent began following him after he passed her requesting “he put a face covering on due to COVID19.”
“I would think if you can’t bother to wear a mask, why are you flying? And, endangering other people,” says flyer Mary Dickson.
Once onboard, Council for “unknown reasons refused to obey” the mask requirement by Delta.
The report goes on to allege that he “became argumentative and refused” to wear a mask.
The report states that even the Capitan tried to persuade Council to wear one.
“I think that masks make people feel more comfortable, and in these times it’s like you need to do things that make it so people can get around easier, and it makes it so things go flawlessly,” says Courtney Castleton who was returning home to Salt Lake City.
Ultimately, Delta management decided Council was “no longer welcome aboard the aircraft and needed to be escorted off the plane.”
Salt Lake City Police came to help but Council didn’t leave the plane until it was “empty”
The whole incident caused a 45-minute delay.
“45 minutes, that’s time out of people’s day. So it would just be easy to put on a face mask,” Castleton adds.
On Friday, Delta Air Lines released a statement to ABC4 News:
“We apologize to customers for the delay on Flight 1382 on Wednesday as a passenger was removed from the flight for mask non-compliance. There is nothing more important than the safety of our people and customers.”
Council is banned from flying on Delta Air Lines for not wearing a mask.
The State of Utah is under a mask mandate and wearing a mask is very important at Salt Lake City International Airport.
Signs are posted throughout the airport requesting flyers to wear one.
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