Airlines already had mask rules before the President directed the bureaucracy to make it a mandate. Penalties aren’t really greater than before (just $250 for a first refusal), and there are more exceptions – for instance airlines now have to allow medical exemptions to mask wearing which American, United, and Southwest didn’t offer before.
The mask order, which runs until rescinded by the CDC or until the Secretary of Health and Human Services rescinds the declaration of a public health emergency, could become a law.
Politico‘s “Weekly Transportation” flags that Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) are introducing legislation to turn the order into federal law until the President declares an end to the pandemic. This would allow these Senators to take credit for something that’s already in place, which was itself in place before CDC did it.
Meanwhile, Representative Rick Larson (D-WA) who chairs the House Aviation Subcommittee, introduced a bill to create a national plan for disease outbreaks that includes giving vaccine priority to front line workers. It would also “set protocols for sanitation and other means of reducing disease transmission” in other words require airlines to do less than they’ve already taken on themselves with electrostatic spraying, hand sanitizers and other measures.
It makes no sense to determine vaccine priority for vaccines that do not exist for hypothetical outbreaks with unknown risk profiles. The 1918 pandemic put younger people at greater risk, while Covid-19 is deadliest amongst the elderly. And since government prioritization has worked so well during the Covid-19 rollout, Larson believes it makes sense to entrench priority in law in advance of even knowing what populations might benefit from a vaccine. This appears to be about giving stuff to an important constituency. Airlines and transportation unions have given approximately 18 times as much to Larsen as his next-biggest donor.
I read in my social media stream that the declining number of cases in the U.S. is clearly the result of a coordinated national plan though the President has been in office less than three weeks and it’s not clear yet what that plan is exactly. The virus is virusing, as past viruses have done. Hopefully we’ll continue to speed up the rate of vaccination, so there’s less SARS-CoV-2 in the population and therefore less of an opportunity for mutation – however that’s a worldwide issue and vaccinations will lag in much of the world for some time.
So airlines spend a lot of effort convincing the public that travel by plane is safe, yet they want cabin crew vaccinated to protect them from the virus? Doesn’t that suggest travel by plane is not as safe as advertised? I understand that order of vaccination may just be a “gift” to a big donor, but I’m assuming the gift was negotiated behind closed doors.
Larson should be impeached with Trump, same trial. Even if it is not in the Constitution. The Constitution is just constipation.
This has practically zero chance of passing, given the thin majority the Democrats have (as well as the filibuster in the Senate).
Yes, cases are falling because WHO changed how we count cases vis-a-vis the number of cycles run to determine a “case”. That’s the plan. Same way they don’t determine unemployment or the CPI the way they used to.
I’ve made a comprehensive list of things that have been improved through centralized government control:
I hope you enjoyed reading this list.
They should skip the crew vaccines and just give each crew member tens of thousands of dollars to not work or work and complain.
Oh wait, they’re already doing that.
“I read in my social media stream that the declining number of cases in the U.S. is clearly the result of a coordinated national plan though the President has been in office less than three weeks and it’s not clear yet what that plan is exactly.”
Where did you read that? There’s a lot of Covid idiocy on social media, but that is partisan nonsense. I haven’t even heard of any POLITICIANS (wrongly) alleging this, and they’ll take credit for anything!
Reality, of course, is that for natural reasons that we don’t really understand, Covid cases started to decline around the world in EARLY January. Scientifically, we don’t know what will happen next but we can hope that this is the beginning of the end of the problem.
As far as the mask mandate goes, it bothers me that there is absolutely no evidence that masks prevent the spread of Covid-19 on airplanes, and there is good reason to believe they are as ineffective on airplanes as they are everywhere else in society. This was established viral science prior to 2019 and no reputable studies have been done since that tome to disprove this science. So our mask law is based on fear and not science. That’s not a good thing.
This law is a terrible idea. The mainstream media is finally admitting (both Time magazine and the Wall Street Journal had recent articles about this) that the virus is most likely going to remain around forever and although things can be done to mitigate damage, society must figure out how to live with the virus. Thus, it is unlikely that the president will ever declare an end to the pandemic. Because of this, it is scary as it could mean that the mask requirement could never end. I really hope that this bill will not pass. I also do not see any benefit that it brings about since masks are required anyway, both by airlines (except in business and first class on some airlines, such as Cathay Pacific, but all of these airlines have foreign flags and likely do not fall under the jurisdiction of US law) and by the executive order.
if they land here they will fall under US law
American Airlines updated its mask policy after Biden’s mandate to say it was a law. When you book now it says:
Face coverings and COVID-19 testing requirements
“A face covering is required by federal law at the airport and on board American Airlines flights. In addition, passengers flying to the U.S. from another country, including U.S. citizens, must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 3 days of departure, or documentation of recovery. These rules do not apply to children under 2. Passengers who may be exempt from wearing a face covering due to a disability must contact us before travel.”
So apparently at least AA (the only airline I fly) doesn’t know the difference anyway.