No mask mandate on planes? Airline CEOs urge Biden for return to pre-COVID normalcy
Airline industry leaders are calling on President Joe Biden to end COVID-19 restrictions on air travel, including mask mandates and pre-departure testing requirements.
“COVID-19 need no longer control our lives,” reads the letter, which is signed by the heads of 10 major airlines — including JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines — and was sent to the president on Wednesday, March 23.
The letter echoes Biden’s comments at his State of the Union address that “thanks to the progress we have made in the past year, COVID-19 no longer need control our lives.”
The airline leaders argue that the mask mandate and testing requirements are unnecessary and continue to burden the industry as it tries to recover from the devastation wrought by the pandemic.
But some public health experts don’t think the world is ready to travel unrestricted.
Because airports are places where many people from different countries congregate, it’s a good idea to continue to wear a mask, said Pia MacDonald, a senior director at RTI International, an independent scientific research institute.
“From the public health side of things it’s still an intervention that we know works,” she said. “... I’m going to continue wearing a high-quality, well-fitting mask on any domestic or international flight that I do for the foreseeable future... That’s just because I want to reduce risk to myself, but also do my part in reducing risk for others.”
The Transportation Security Administration recently extended its federal mask mandate for public transportation through April 18. It was originally set to end on March 18. When asked for comment, the White House directed McClatchy News to a statement from the Transportation Security Administration announcing the mask mandate extension.
But due to advanced air filtration systems and constant airflow in the cabin, passengers are unlikely to spread or contract COVID-19 during a flight, according airline leaders.
“It makes no sense that people are still required to wear masks on airplanes, yet are allowed to congregate in crowded restaurants, schools and at sporting events without masks, despite none of these venues having the protective air filtration system that aircraft do,” the letter reads.
A 2020 study by the Department of Defense concluded that airplanes were not major spreaders of COVID-19, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that a passenger’s risk of contracting a contagious disease on a plane is low.
In their letter, industry leaders also argue that the international pre-departure testing requirement for travelers returning to the U.S., implemented to help slow the spread of new variants, such as omicron, should be terminated because it burdens travelers wishing to go abroad but fear getting stuck overseas.
Some health experts, though, recommend that travelers always get tested, even for domestic flights, which do not currently require proof of negative tests.
“Testing and masking fall in the categories of really important interventions to reduce transmission of (COVID-19),” MacDonald said. “From a public health perspective, it’s just a very important way to minimize the risk on an airplane, in an indoor setting, where lots of people from different places, different households and different countries are coming together and mixing.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 9:33 AM with the headline "No mask mandate on planes? Airline CEOs urge Biden for return to pre-COVID normalcy."