Video Goes Viral Of Flight Attendant Dispute With Passenger Over American Flag Face Covering

A video is going viral this week showing an altercation on a Spirit Airlines flight where a flight attendant tries to force a passenger to remove the American flag neck gaiter that he is using as a mask, claiming his face covering is “not legal.”

The passenger refuses to switch out his face covering, however, and things go downhill from there.

Spirit Airlines Flight Attendant Confronts Passenger With American Flag Neck Gaiter

In the viral clip, the man can be seen repeatedly asking the flight attendant to “show me those rules” that state that his neck gaiter that features the American flag is “not legal.”

“I don’t have to wear the mask that you gave me,” the passenger says defiantly. “I’m wearing the mask that I have … I’ve been on 20 flights with this same exact mask.”

The passenger continues to refuse to comply, and the flight attendant eventually backs down.

However, as he walks away from the passenger, the flight attendant adds they would “have the authorities waiting for you when we land.”

You can watch this all go down in the tweeted video below.

https://twitter.com/SVNewsAlerts/status/1307036325909073923?s=20

It’s unclear if the passenger was met or detained by law enforcement after the flight. But, video of this passenger altercation went so viral online that Spirit Airlines was forced to respond.

Spirit Airlines Responds To American Flag Gaiter Incident

After the video went viral, Spirit Airlines released a statement in response.

Their statement says the airline follows the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and that the CDC guidelines say “gaiters may not be effective.”

“Safety is Spirit’s number one priority, which is why our face covering policy adheres to CDC guidelines,” the airline stated. “The CDC cautions that gaiters may not be effective, which is why we require Guests to either double up neck gaiters so they’re dual-layered and hug the chin, or to switch to a standard ear-loop face covering.”

Spirit Airlines went on to say that the male passenger refused to switch his neck gaiter out with another mask that the flight attendant had provided to him.

The airline also claimed that the American flag being on the neck gaiter had nothing to do with the flight attendant telling the passenger to remove it.

“Spirit Airlines proudly welcomes anyone onboard who wants to show their pride with an American flag on a face covering that complies with our policy,” the airline said.

pic.twitter.com/LFpEv4R498

— Spirit Airlines (@SpiritAirlines) September 18, 2020

The American Flag Has Unfortunately Become Controversial

We would like to believe that the American flag being on the neck gaiter had nothing to do with this.

Unfortunately, however, we live in a time where the radical left has made the American flag a controversial symbol.

So it’s no wonder this passenger became defensive during the altercation.

Especially given the flight attendant couldn’t produce the rule. And the fact the man claims to have worn the same American flag neck gaiter on other flights.

Would the flight attendant have let the neck gaiter slide had it not looked like the American flag?

We’ll never know.

But it’s a reminder that not everyone respects and adores the flag like we do.