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(CNN) -
An Alaska state legislator who had called Alaska Airlines flight attendants "mask bullies" and confronted airline employees in a video about the rules governing the use of face masks. , is now prohibited from flying with the company because of its "continued refusal to comply" with the airline policy, the airline said in a statement.
The restriction on Republican state legislator Lora Reinbold will make her job more difficult: Alaska Airlines operates the only regular flights between her home north of Anchorage and the state capital in Juneau.
The ban forced Reinbold to drive more than 14 hours on Sunday, including part of the trip across Canada, and take a ferry to Juneau on Monday, where a bill he opposes is slated to pass. that would expand the emergency powers of Governor Mike Dunleavy during the coronavirus pandemic.
On Sunday night he wrote on Facebook that he had reached "new heights" to serve Alaska.
“I am well aware of the Juneau air travel monopoly that needs to be overhauled!
… Nothing could stand in the way of being on Capitol Hill to fight the infringement of the executive branch in the legislature and defend your rights by trying to stop HB76 that is in full Senate tomorrow! ”Reinbold wrote.
Alaska Airlines banned Reinbold from flying after "its continued refusal to comply" with the mask policy, the company said in a statement Sunday.
The airline told CNN in a statement that they have notified Reinbold of their decision.
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"This suspension is effective immediately pending further review," Alaska Airlines spokesman Tim Thompson said in the statement.
"Federal law requires that all passengers wear a mask over their nose and mouth at all times during travel, including throughout the flight, during boarding and disembarking, and while passing through an airport."
Reinbold said it was "reasonable to all Alaska Airlines employees" in a statement posted on its Facebook page, and felt that the airline should have kept the matter a secret until further review.
"I asked strict counter clerks about the mask exemption," Reinbold said in the statement.
"I found out about the (Alaska Airlines) decision before I knew there was even an investigation and before I had a chance to speak or discuss this with someone at Alaska Air," he said.
Reinbold said it did not receive a warning under its policy.
CNN reached out to Reinbold for comment.
Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expanded its enforcement of stricter measures against unruly passengers until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifts its order requiring the use of face masks. in mass and commercial travel. At the time, the FAA said it had received more than 500 reports of misbehaving passengers since December.
Reinbold, skeptical of the coronavirus vaccine, has frequently clashed with airline employees over mask requirements.
In November, after complaining on Facebook that flight attendants had been "mask bullies," according to The Anchorage Daily News, for asking him to wear a mask on board a flight, he posted a frosting cake that read : "AK Airlines stewardesses, sorry to have offended you."
The latest incident happened last week.
In videos posted by The Alaska Landmine, which the website said were filmed Thursday at the Juneau airport, a police officer responded to a confrontation between Reinbold and Alaska Airlines employees.
One of the workers insists that he pull the mask up over his nose or he will not be allowed to board the flight.
The senator has been critical of the health policy of covid-19
Reinbold has been critical of public health policy on COVID-19 and has used her position as chair of the Alaska Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on whether the restrictions are constitutional.
"Transparency, accountability, and basic information analyzing the impacts of disaster declarations are being denied or delayed at this time by Dunleavy," Reinbold wrote on his Facebook page on January 30 after the office of the governor will refuse to participate in an upcoming hearing on his disaster declarations.
In March, Dunleavy told Reinbold that he would get no further cooperation from his administration after she repeatedly questioned the constitutionality of the COVID-19 restrictions.
"It is clear that he has abdicated the principles of his oath as a public servant," Dunleavy wrote in a letter to Reinbold that his office shared with CNN.
"He has used his position as a member of the Alaska State Senate to publicly misrepresent the State of Alaska's response to a global health crisis," Dunleavy said in the letter to Reinbold.
"You challenged the motivations of unelected, non-political employees working for the State of Alaska with unsubstantiated allegations that you have been shown on multiple occasions to be false."
Dunleavy also disputed Reinbold's suggestion that the governor could declare martial law to enforce the restrictions, or that Alaskans would be forced to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
- CNN's Pete Muntean and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.
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