American Airlines said it was investigating a photo of John Kerry, special presidential envoy for climate, aboard one of its aircraft without a required face mask.
The photo: Kerry, a former Massachusetts senator and Democratic presidential nominee, was photographed mask-less on an Boston-Washington, D.C. flight on Wednesday in apparent violation of various mandates, including by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and his boss, President Joe Biden.
- Twitter users flagged the image for American Airlines, with some asking why Kerry had not been booted from the flight like other, less elite passengers before him.
According to the Tennessee Star, which first reported the story, Kerry was “not eating, nor drinking” while sitting without a mask in his first-class seat just before takeoff from Logan International Airport.
The investigation: American Airlines responded with assurances that its mask policy applies to all passengers and that it was reviewing Kerry’s compliance, or lack thereof.
- “We’re actively looking into this,” the airline said in one tweet.
- “We continue to review the matter and we are reaching out to Secretary Kerry to underscore that all customers are expected to wear masks for the duration of their trip,” an American Airlines spokeswoman told the Boston Herald.
The explanation: “Feels like there’s some St. Patrick’s day ‘malarkey’ afoot on Twitter,” Kerry tweeted from his official account on Wednesday.
- “Let’s be clear: If I dropped my mask to one ear on a flight, it was momentary. I wear my mask because it saves lives and stops the spread. It’s what the science tells us to do.”
As some critics recalled, Kerry has been embroiled in airplane-related controversy before.
- In 2019, Kerry said of taking his private jet to receive a “climate leadership” award: “It’s the only choice for somebody like me …”
