Travelers at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago late last year.
Photo:
Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press
Chief executives of major passenger and cargo airlines pressed President Biden on Wednesday to do away with the requirement that passengers wear masks on planes and in airports.
Top executives at airlines including
American Airlines Group Inc.,
AAL 3.15%
United Airlines Holdings Inc.
UAL 3.01%
and
Delta Air Lines Inc.
DAL 2.87%
wrote in a letter to Mr. Biden that mandatory masking and another requirement that passengers test negative for Covid-19 before flying to the U.S. from abroad are no longer necessary now that cases and hospitalizations are on the decline.
Travelers and commuters in the U.S. have been required to wear masks covering their mouths and noses on nearly all forms of public transportation and inside transportation hubs since early last year. The federal requirement was recently extended until mid-April, even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has eased masking guidance for many other indoor settings.
The executives said air travel will still be safe even if not everyone is masked, citing air filtration systems in plane cabins and the availability of high quality masks for people who still want to wear them.
“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,” the executives wrote.
Many airlines began requiring their passengers to mask up in 2020, before the government mandated it, but they and other travel industry groups have become more vocal in questioning the mask requirement recently. In February, the industry urged the administration to either end the mandate by mid-March or develop a clear road map for doing so.
One source of frustration for airlines has been the strain on flight attendants and other employees who are tasked with making sure passengers are wearing their masks. The Federal Aviation Administration has logged a surge in reports of bad passenger behavior over the past year, with many incidents related to people refusing to wear masks.
“This is not a function they are trained to perform and subjects them to daily challenges by frustrated customers. This in turn takes a toll on their own well-being,” the executives wrote.
Write to Alison Sider at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Appeared in the March 24, 2022, print edition as ‘Airlines Urge End of Mask Mandates.’
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