Man kicked off flight for using “pant” as face mask

Nigeria Abroad

A Florida USA man was, Wednesday, removed from a United Airlines flight after wearing a thong around his face as a substitute for a mask.Adam Jenne of Cape Coral chose to wear the thong Wednesday on the flight between Florida and Washington, DC in protest of the airline’s mask mandate, The Hill reported.

Jenne told NBC2 he had worn a thong about two dozen times on flights during the COVID-19 pandemic and received a variety of reactions to the health and safety violation.

“I think the best way to illustrate absurdity is with absurdity,” Jenne told the news outlet. “Every single flight has been met with different reactions from the flight crew.” Details of the other instances were not provided.

Jenne has been banned from flying on United Airlines moving forward for refusing to comply with the measures put in place by both the airline and a federal mask mandate to help combat the spread of COVID-19. Passengers agree to an airline’s terms of service when they purchase a ticket.

“I am banned from flying United so, so much for the customer is always right,” he said. “It is nonsense. It is all nonsense.”

A spokesperson for the airline told the New York Post that Jenne was not in compliance with its mask rules.

“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 [in] the air,” read the statement.

NBC2 reported that some other passengers chose to get off the plane and miss their flight with Jenne in protest.

COVID-19 cases are spiking again in the U.S. thanks in part to the Omicron variant. On Thursday, there were 146,195 new infections in the U.S., an increase of 31% over the last two weeks, according to The New York Times.

The strain is the most contagious yet, has more mutations than any before it and seems to evade the previously-effective two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. But health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, note that a booster shot is effective in combatting Omicron.

“Our booster vaccine regimens work against omicron,” Fauci said, according to the Times. “At this point, there is no need for a very specific booster. And so the message remains clear: If you are unvaccinated get vaccinated, and particularly in the arena of omicron, if you are fully vaccinated, get your booster shot.”

This story first appeared in Nigeria Abroad