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Delta bans disruptive Trump supporter from future flights

A Delta Air Lines Airbus A330 aircraft takes off at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy, France, August 9, 2016. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines said on Monday it was banning a disruptive supporter of Donald Trump from all future flights after a video showed the passenger going on an expletive-filled rant in support of the President-elect.

The video posted on Facebook by another passenger showed the disruptive passenger standing in the aisle of a flight from Atlanta to Allentown, Pennsylvania, yelling and insulting fellow passengers who were supporters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Delta on Saturday apologized for the incident and said the passenger should not have been allowed to continue on the flight.

Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian on Monday said that had staff witnessed firsthand what was shown in the video, there is no question the passenger would have been removed from the aircraft.

"He will never again be allowed on a Delta plane," Bastian said in an internal memo to employees posted on Delta's website.

The incident occurred several minutes into the flight, the passenger who posted the video told The Morning Call, an Allentown newspaper.

Delta is refunding passengers aboard the flight the cost of their tickets, Bastian said.

"The heightened tension in our society means that now more than ever we must require civility on our planes and in our facilities," Bastian said.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Andrew Hay)