Posted on 04/18/2022 5:05:17 PM PDT by george76
A Florida federal judge and Trump appointee has liberated the U.S. airlines from the tyranny of having to enforce mask mandates. United and Alaska airlines did not waste any time in seconding that ruling by dropping their own mask requirements.
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United Airlines and Alaska Air became the first U.S airlines Monday night to drop their own mask mandates just hours after a federal judge in Florida ruled the U.S. government’s mask mandate requirement for airplanes, trains and other transit to be unlawful.
“Effective immediately, masks are no longer required at United on domestic flights, select international flights (dependent upon the arrival country’s mask requirements) or at U.S. airports,” the airline said in a statement Monday. “While this means that our employees are no longer required to wear a mask – and no longer have to enforce a mask requirement for most of the flying public – they will be able to wear masks if they choose to do so, as the CDC continues to strongly recommend wearing a mask on public transit.”
United CEO Scott Kirby was among the airline CEOs testifying before Congress back in December that mask mandates were no longer necessary.
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Alaska said in a statement: “Face masks have been like boarding passes for nearly two years — you couldn’t fly without one. But, as of today, masks are optional in airports and onboard aircraft, effective immediately.
“Due to a judicial decision in our federal court system, the mask mandate has been overturned, which means our guests and employees have the option to wear a mask while traveling in the U.S. and at work.”
Not everybody in travel circles, however, was as clear-cut on the ruling as was United and Alaska. Tori Emerson Barnes, executive vice president of public affairs and policy at the U.S. Travel Association, said “today’s court ruling on the federal mask mandate requires clarity from the federal government and enforcement agencies for the sake of the traveling public and the employees of the travel industry.”
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki expressed disappointment in the ruling by U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, adding “we would say to anyone sitting out there, we would recommend you wear masks on the airplane.”
Delta? Hello Delta??
When masks are optional the only people wearing masks are democrats.
Please Delta….I have a ton of frequent flier miles to use and medallion status to rev up….but not until the masks are gone.
Yes! Flying to Alaska on Alaska next week. Hope this holds!!
Delta Air Lines says it is making masks optional,
...and dumb f***s. Oh, wait; you already said that.
-PJ
I would wager Amtrak to be the last holdout. In fact, I would not be surprused if they demanded masks in perpetuity.
The Transportation Security Administration will not enforce the national mask mandate on planes and public transit for now after a federal judge voided it on Monday.
That’ll make it really easy to avoid sitting next to one on Southwest.
I wonder why cruise ships have such problems with Covid, but airplanes do not.
Masks have nothing to do with it.
Maybe using PCR tests that are neither accurate nor precise / full of false positives?
Even a fruit & a can of soda tested positive for covid... UK : Pupils are using fruit juice and soft drinks to create false positive covid test results.. to get out of going to school...
That is a really good question.
Length of time on a cruise ship? Better air filtration in an airplane? ?
This is a gift to Democrats. Now it won’t be a contentious issue that could have had an impact on the November elections.
Their verison of the Nazi armband. Literally. Proudly worn to highlight their superior ignorance.
Has Southwest made any statement?
I just checked Southwest web site. Face diapers now optional.
When masks are optional the only people wearing masks are democrats.
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Heh! The NFTA at Buffalo International, while acknowledging the mandate can’t be enforced on planes, has refused to drop it inside the airport, stating that they ‘have to study the ruling to learn what it means’. I am going to guess which party ‘runs’ the NFTA.
CDC says the national mask requirement on public transportation is no longer in effect. Therefore, CDC will not enforce the Order... CDC does not require wearing of masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/ child care programs.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/face-masks-public-transportation.html
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