By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – Thursday’s announcement by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), indicated that it recently raised proposed penalties for those who do not wear masks when traveling at airports or in transit.

TSA stated Monday it proposed $85,990 for 190 violators of masks, and that more than 5,000 incidents had been reported by February 2. It also issued warnings about more than 2,200 people.

Two U.S. legislators in the House of Representatives revealed Monday that they had only issued $2,350 to 10 passengers in total for violations of federal law through September, in spite of thousands of complaints from airport travellers not complying.

Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Bonnie Watson Coleman (chairperson of House transportation subcommittee) stated that despite 4102 reported mask-related incidents, TSA has issued only 10 fines until Sept. 13.

The lawmakers wrote that they urged you to implement the enhanced penalties in order to reduce the number of disruptive passengers incidents involving masks.

TSA announced Thursday that the agency has taken steps to increase enforcement and compliance. This includes increasing penalties, decreasing the time it takes from incident reports being received to the issue of enforcement actions, routine interactions with carriers, and regular interaction to improve incident report reporting.

The agency also said almost 200 people have faced criminal penalties. TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in July that there had been 85 physical attacks on TSA staff since the beginning of the pandemic.

TSA extended the mask requirement on planes, trains, buses and station platforms through August in order to reduce COVID-19-related risks.

Some travelers refused to use masks after the requirements were established in February.

Through Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration received 4,941 reports from passengers who were not in compliance with its “zero tolerance”, enforcement policy. This includes 3,580 incidents involving masks.

Last month, the TSA said it was doubling penalties for violating the transportation mask mandate: $500-$1000 for first offenders and $1000-$3000 for second offenders.