Man Banned From United Airlines After Wearing A Thong As A Mask To Protest Mandates
He's done this on multiple flights.
Twitter A Florida man was kicked off of a United Airlines flight after trying to wear a red thong on his face in place of a face mask.
Adam Jenne, 38, was told to exit a flight that was set to take off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after getting into a dispute with flight attendants over the airline's mask mandate.
Jenne told WBBH that he’s been wearing panties as masks on multiple flights in an effort to make a “statement.”
“I think the best way to illustrate absurdity is with absurdity,” Jenne said. “Every single flight has been met with different reactions from the flight crew.”
A viral video showed the man wearing a thong as a mask on the United Airlines flight.
In a clip from Twitter, Jenne can be seen wearing the thong on his face while people are boarding the plane.
An airport worker can be seen walking over to Jenne and asking him to disembark for non-compliance with the airline’s mask mandate.
“The customer clearly wasn’t in compliance with the federal mask mandate and we appreciate that our team addressed the issue on the ground prior to takeoff, avoiding any potential disruptions on the air,” United said in a statement to NBC News.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has extended the mask requirement for individuals across all transportation networks in the United States, which includes at airports, onboard airplanes, buses, and trains through March 18, 2022.
On United Airlines, the crew advises all passengers to keep their masks on for the duration of the flight, and are only allowed to remove it for short increments while eating and drinking.
“Illustrating that absurdity by wearing women's underwear on my face sounds perfect,” Jenne said, who also wore an anti-Biden "Let's Go Brandon" t-shirt on the flight.
Jenne also compared his actions to that of civil rights activist Rosa Parks during his interview with WBBH.
“Everything else that has sparked change in this country has started from everyday people. Rosa Parks wasn't famous. She changed the course of history,” Jenne said.
Jenne added that the other time he had flown out of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport without a mask he wasn’t forced to disembark, but this occasion was obviously different.
Jenne also revealed that he later received an email from United Airlines saying he had been banned from flying on their airline while the company reviewed his case.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, they have been facing a growing number of unruly passengers on flights throughout the entire year.
Reports have cited about 3,988 claims of unruly behavior with 2,928 of them consisting of passengers refusing to wear masks.
In a typical year, the FAA gets around 100 to 150 formal cases of bad behavior from passengers.
One of the more extreme incidents that occurred this year happened on a JetBlue flight from New York to Orlando, Florida in May.
A passenger was accused of throwing objects at other passengers, refusing to stay seated and lying on the aisle floor.
The passenger, who was fined $45,000, was also accused of grabbing a flight attendant by her ankles and putting his head up her skirt, which forced the pilot to make an emergency landing in Richmond, Virginia.
Jenne has since been refunded for his flight and plans to fly again, saying, “hopefully, Spirit Airlines has a better sense of humor tomorrow.”
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.