Photo via @alaskalandmine/Twitter, Lora Reinbold/Facebook
April 27, 2021, 12:54 pm
Alaska State Senator Lora Reinbold, a Republican, might be regretting her anti-mask war with Alaska Airlines after she was banned from the airline over the weekend for “her continued refusal to comply with employee instruction regarding the current mask policy,” according to The Washington Post. Unfortunately for Reinbold, Alaska Airlines is the only airline offering regular flights from her home in the Anchorage area to the state Capitol in Juneau.
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The ban, coupled with the fact that Alaska is a particularly massive state, resulted in Reinbold having to endure a 14-hour car ride, part of it through Canada, to catch a ferry to the workplace in Juneau. This is actually impressive time, as Google Maps shows the quickest route from Anchorage to Juneau is nearly a 20-hour trip by car.
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Alaska state Senator Lora Reinbold refused to wear a mask on flights, so @AlaskaAir banned her. Now she has to drive 14 hours by car to the state capital.
https://t.co/OJLefOV79i
— Mark Elliott (@markmobility) April 26, 2021
Video posted last Thursday showing Reinbold in a discussion with Alaska Airlines employees as well as a police officer, reportedly over their mask policy. News outlet The Alaska Landmine says that she was filming employees and asking for their names.
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Reinbold has been an anti-masker from the beginning of the pandemic, making a name for herself in Alaska by refusing to wear a normal mask at the state Capitol, opting instead for a clear plastic one that must be as uncomfortable as it is ineffective at trapping spit particles. She has spent the last year or so as the chairwoman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee to call hearings over Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s pandemic policies, calling witnesses to dispute the effectiveness of masks and other methods to slow the spread of the virus.
This got so ridiculous that her fellow Republicans, including Dunleavy, spoke out against her and finally announced that they would no longer be going along with her sideshows.
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“I will not continue to subject the public resources of the State of Alaska to the mockery of a charade, disguised as public purpose,” wrote Dunleavy in February.
This month, Alaska Republicans voted to remove her from her seat as chairwoman and she was banned from most of the Capitol for her continuing anti-mask shenanigans.
Reinbold herself has turned this into a bragging opportunity and is still taking pot shots at Alaska Airlines.
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“Alaska I went to new heights to serve you & have a new appreciation for the marine ferry system,” she wrote on Facebook. “I am keenly aware of the monopoly in air transport to Juneau that needs reviewed! [sic]Please thank my husband for giving up his birthday to make a long unexpected trip to Juneau by road/ferry system!”
She made the trip to ensure she could vote against a bill extending the state’s emergency declaration during the continuing coronavirus pandemic. Fixing the “monopoly in air transport” might not help Reinbold, however, as every other major airline has similar mask mandates for their flights.
*First Published: April 27, 2021, 12:54 pm
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