Travelers Rejoice As DC Says TSA Will NOT Enforce Masks On Planes
Passengers are rejoicing the end of the pandemic-era mandate requiring face masks on If you treasured this article so you would like to obtain more info concerning zolobus please visit our website. planes - but a flight attendants' union has warned of further mid-air violence if the new rules aren't explained clearly.
On Monday, US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle struck down the mask mandate, saying that the CDC had overstepped its remit, and that its continued enforcement was illegal.
The White House and TSA, which manages passengers at airports, say they won't challenge Mizelle's ruling, meaning the mask mandate has now officially ended.
Individual airlines and airports can continue to enforce it if they see fit, although so-far all major US carriers have chosen to scrap the mask rule, with passengers filmed cheering with delight at the news.
But many others have expressed rage at the mandate being lifted online. They've claimed the health of children too young to be vaccinated is at risk, and have even vowed to boycott flying. Others have called for airlines to indulge them with special mask-only flights where the coverings remain compulsory.
'We urge focus on clear communication so that flight attendants and other frontline workers are not subject to more violence created by uncertainty and confusion,' the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), which represents nearly 50,000 flight attendants across 17 airlines, said in a statement issued to Newsweek Monday.
'The last thing we need for workers on the frontlines or passengers traveling today is confusion and chaos. Traveling can be stressful enough and safety comes first with respect for everyone utilizing collective modes of transportation.'
The statement followed a ruling by US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, that appeared to free public transportation operators to make their own decisions about mask requirements.
Maskless traveler Casey Phillips, 40, day trips from New York by bus Alexandria, VA is served a cup of champagne day trips from New York by bus an unmasked Delta Flight attendant on a flight heading to Atlanta, Georgia day trips from New York by bus Reagan National Airport in DC on Tuesday
She said the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had failed to justify its 'unlawful' mask policy, stretched the meaning of 'sanitation' in the law to encompass face coverings, and did not follow proper rulemaking procedures that left it fatally flawed.
In her 59-page ruling, Mizelle said the only remedy was to vacate the rule entirely across the country because it would be impossible to end it for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, two individuals and the non-profit Health Freedom Defense Fund.
The CDC had issued the mandate in February 2021 and it was due to expire next month after it was extended multiple times at the request of Joe Biden. Now operators can decide their own policy on mask-wearing, pending a potential appeal to the ruling by the US Department of Justice.
The signs are coming down inside Terminal A at Logan Airport. Masks no longer required #WCVB pic.twitter.com/98Q5Dr17Hi
— Matt Reed (@MattReedNews) April 19, 2022
Multiple people flying the friendly skies posted videos and photos Monday of people whipping off their face coverings and cheering after a White House official said that passengers on planes, trains and buses could finally shed their masks after more than two years.
One man wrote: 'I'm on Delta flight to NYC now and the plane absolutely went bonkers when Captain said NO NEED TO WEAR A MASK ON THIS FLIGHT. We are taking our country back!!!'
Ben Dietderich added, as he heard the announcement: 'A wonderful moment mid flight on @alaskaair today!'
Two JetBlue flight attendants clap, cheer and say 'we're so happy!' after learning the public transportation mask mandate has been lifted. After their celebration they tell passengers they can take off their face coverings and say: 'Wave 'em in the air like you just don't care'
Some passengers are seen wearing masks at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in DC on Tuesday, while others opted not to wear a face covering
Passengers are pictured aboard an Atlanta-bound flight from DC Tuesday. Travelers are seen smiling as many go without masks, although some have opted to keep their face covering on despite Monday's ruling to lift the mask mandate