Frontier Denies Charges Made By President of National Association of Police Organizations

The internet is abuzz after a copy of a letter that ANN has confirmed as having been written by the head of the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) to the CEO of Frontier Airlines, was published on the web. The letter makes some disturbing charges...

NAPO President Michael McHale wrote, "On behalf of the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) and the more than 240,000 of Police law enforcement officers we represent, including Federal Air Marshals, I write to you in regards to an incident that occurred at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on August 23, 2020, in which a Federal Air Marshal (FAM) boarding a Frontier Airlines plane was told to remove his American Flag face mask because other passengers would find it offensive.

While attempting to board the plane, the FAM wearing the American Flag mask was stopped by the Gate Agent, advised that he should wear another mask and was handed a disposable one. The FAM politely put the disposable mask on and then covered that mask with his American Flag mask. The Gate Agent then told him to remove the American Flag mask or he would not be allowed to board  the plane as it would create issues with the other passengers. Meanwhile, several passengers with Black Lives Matter masks boarded the plane."

McHale's letter contains a great amount of detail to support his charges... "The FAM remained professional and acquiesced to the Gate Agent's request to protect his identity and maintain his team's undercover status. The fact that Frontier Airlines Gate Agent told the FAM to remove his mask because the image of an American Flag would inflame tensions with Association other passengers is indefensible. This Marshal and every Federal Air Marshal risk their lives every day to protect our nation's skies and the passengers and flight crews of every airline, including yours. They have dedicated their lives to serving our country and it is insulting that an American Flag face mask would be deemed so controversial.

That Gate Agent is a public representative of Frontier Airlines. By allowing actions like this to go on without censure, you are endorsing Anti-American sentiment. Wearing an American Flag face mask is not a political statement; it is proudly showing support for our country. The Gate Agent made it political, particularly given the other masks that were allowed without issue on the plane.

Federal Air Marshals protect your planes, your employees, and in gratitude for that service, they are repaid by being forced to remove a symbol of the nation they serve. That is unacceptable. NAPO calls on Frontier Airlines to address this unfortunate incident and ensure that it never happens again."

Copies of the letter were posted to Facebook and other social media platforms and have been circulated aggressively throughout the day.

Of course, there are two sides to every story... so we reached out to Frontier, who sent us a letter on behalf of their CEO, Barry Biffle, which denies the detailed narrative provided by McHale but nonetheless admits that mistakes were made.

Biffle explains that, "We have investigated the facts at length. The gate agent in question believed that the Federal Air Marshal’s (FAM’s) gaiter style mask was not in compliance with our mask policy, which we have modified and updated several times. She offered the FAM an alternate mask to resolve the concern. Although we do allow gaiter style masks and the agent misinterpreted our policy, her objection to the FAM’s original mask in no way related to its American flag emblem."

While this does not explain the narrative details in which the FAM replaced his gaiter over the substitute mask, Biffle adds that, "We regret that the gate agent mistakenly believed that the gaiter style mask was not in compliance with our policy. However, it is unfortunate that the FAM apparently misinterpreted the reason behind the agent’s objection to his mask, which, once again, was based purely on its gaiter style and not on the flag emblem."

The Frontier explanation seems a little thin, and we're told that other evidence of the encounter exists which support the NAPO letter. We'll furnish more detail as it becomes available. This should be interesting...

FMI: http://www.napo.org/, www.frontier.com