I warned you this would happen, but you supported a federal mask mandate anyway. Airlines already required mask-wearing on planes. I told you that if the federal government got involved this would mean fewer options for travels, and less mask-wearing overall. Guess which one of us was right?
Late Friday night the CDC issued its rule for mask-wearing on public transportation and airlines following the President’s executive order asking them to do so.
Currently United, American and Southwest require everyone two years old and above to wear masks, with no exceptions for disability or other health reasons. Delta allows health exceptions with airport consultation with a medical professional and exceptions for young children who cannot wear masks for prolonged periods.
These new rules,
- Apply to everyone two years of age and older, so there’ll will be no option to fly Delta with a two year old that won’t keep their mask on, even though very young children do not spread the virus to the same extent as adults.
- Allow exemptions for disability – which United, American and Southwest currently do not – and many conditions aren’t obvious to airline employees upon mere visual inspection. Airlines will be allowed to require medical documentation or consultation, but will have to defer once that’s presented.
- Apply even to intra-state travel “while boarding, disembarking, and traveling on any conveyance into or within the United States [and] at any transportation hub that provides transportation within the United States.”
- Allows masks to be removed “briefly” for eating, drinking, going through security as well as taking medication.
- Tells airlines to “use best efforts” at enforcement up to “at the earliest opportunity, disembarking any person who refuses to comply.”
- Put the TSA in charge of enforcement with a role for both “other federal authorities” and coordination with “state and local authorities.”
We’ll see exactly how this is implemented in the coming days, however we will see airlines that didn’t used to allow medical mask exemptions beginning to do so as a result of the new federal mask mandate, which means more people without masks than are currently flying today.
Oh, and for those of you who thought at least violating the rule will have criminal penalties not just an airline ban, “[t]he CDC said people violating the order could potentially face criminal penalties but suggested civil penalties would be more likely if needed.”
This new rule, which provides for more exceptions than current airline policy, goes into effect Monday at 11:59 p.m. (so, effectively, Tuesday).
Good luck getting a 2-4 yo to wear a mask for hours on an airplane. I can’t see why a family with young kids would take that risk.
Does this apply to foreign airlines arriving/departing from the US? Like LH who does not require a mask on children under 6. I assume not but not sure about it.
Hahahaha. Gary’s libertarian worldview is correct once again! Tell us now about how markets are efficient again. And how fewer regulations on corporations will lead to an age of prosperity for all. You are right sir! And sooooo rational. Not at all blinded by a certain belief like those simple religious folk who follow the bible. You sir are not blinded by having read a book at 15 and completely adopted a worldview out of that book. Not you.
I believe the “brief removal of a mask while going through security” is not for the benefit of the passenger, but security, so pax can be more thoroughly screened.
The actual order is more informative than the newspaper oversimplifications – https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/Mask-Order-CDC_GMTF_01-29-21-p.pdf
The only security exception is the same as before, to show the TSA officer (or gate agent) your face while checking ID. It also doesn’t require the transportation operator to loosen the requirements they already have, but the force of law doesn’t require that. Practically, what do they do when passengers don’t want to die next to unmasked people? Do they emulate the Aeroflot and have a couple of rows at the back of the plane for the unmasked?
I would have been happier if they had managed surgical or N95 or alternatives as the only option, but that might not be affordable on all interstate busses. They do list acceptable masks in footnote 6, which gives further details, but references a page not posted to the Federal register, so the latter is not enforceable – https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html
Just wear a mask, it’s not that hard or complicated- the same people complaining about wear a mask on a plane , are the same people that wear seat belts and drive the speed limit and follow hundreds of local , state and federal rules – I’ve seen folks complaining about having to wear a mask , while standing 6 feet apart , in line , to get a deer hunting permit – just follow the rules and maybe we can all be safe. No one is forcing you to fly and if your flying for work, shut your mouth and do you job.
If you think you have a disability that keeps you from wearing a mask (you don’t) then drive. The rest of the plane shouldn’t have to be exposed to you
All the federal mask mandate and testing requirements do is discourage discretionary long distance travel by erecting nuisance “roadblocks”. Taken together with the vaccination drive, it’s supposed to shepherd people to get vaccinated. The faster we reach herd immunity (preferablynthru vaccination), the faster we can get back to some.sembalnce of normalcy.
@tim I’m cured. I always “thought” I had a disability but with your help today it’s a miracle. Thank you.
There is a simpler enforcement method. No Mask= health insurance cancelation.
Pay up for your own stupidity or just die at home.
I agree with Gary on this one. The fed did not go far enough, giving someone an out to have a Dr. note for no mask. Non-believers will get them, I would not want to sit near one. I am 19 days away from my second vaccine shot. I seriously considered taking a flight three weeks after that. Even protected I do not want to be a carrier.
ABC: I have a 4 yo old granddaughter and she has absolutely no problem with wearing a mask for hours. She does this in her preschool all day.
Questions:
Are these the rules or the minimum rules? Are airlines not free to exceed this minimum?
1. State and local governments can impose more burdensome restrictions under these rules
2. Airlines can impose additional requirements such as distancing and negative testing
3. Even if it’s worded in such a way as to be unclear whether airlines can forgo medical exemptions, it’ll be difficult to maintain those when the CDC says medical exemptions are fine
4. If there’s any increased mask requirement it’s only just for non-medically exempt 2-10 year olds flying Delta. That de minimis mask wearing gets offset by any reduction from other airlines that permit medical exemptions in line with CDC guidance.
5. And the only anticipated penalties are fines that have already been on the table from the FAA for disturbances.
“The faster we reach herd immunity (preferablynthru vaccination), the faster we can get back to some.sembalnce of normalcy.”
Unfortunately, you don’t reach herd immunity through vaccination and the current jabs, which aren’t vaccines, aren’t designed to do that. This hoax needs to end and the uninformed sheep need to wake from their slumber.
It’s ok James. Let the ones who Covid inject (won’t call it a vaccine as by definition it is not) get whatever they get as this will be one of the few ways the sheep will wake up.
329 deaths and 9516 injuries due to Covid jab and this is just the beginning of the reported.
Let them wear their masks, keep them on their children 6 hours a day at school which will cause multiple repercussions , lose their jobs and stay locked down, over half of Covid deaths caused by missed operations, cancellation of operations, suicides, economic impact, poor diet, lack of supplements, inability to feed their children, etc….
Next coming for Gary and gang….Bend over boys and girls…..Anal swabbing is coming to a “theater” near you!
Everyone – just let the government tell you what to do.
It’s way easier!
You can stay at home, watching Netflix, while the world burns and poor people suffer.
Do Not Worry! The Government knows best.
Central Planning is the key to happiness.
No thinking. No reasoning. No logic.
You guys did GREAT in 2020 – just shut up, put on the mask and be scared.
Just imagine how much fun you’ll have in 2021 if you keep this obedience up.
Laws are fun, the more the better.
Stay Home!
Stay Safe!
I’m puzzled why Gary focuses on a relatively minuscule number of potential exceptions from some current practice compared to the clear benefits of a national policy for wearing masks and extending that to all forms of interstate travel. Having the President reinforce, instead of undermine, science-based protections seems like a light-year’s advance. If experience indicates that further guidance is needed, the CDC can revise and update the guidelines. Is the complaint that the federal government issued the guidelines at all, that the guidelines are insufficiently aggressive or something else?
@Todd is lying. There have not been 329 deaths from the Covid vaccine!
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine coverage is proof. They have no hesitation to say how low the efficacy of that vaccine is. 50-some %, maybe in the 60’s. The Merck vaccine was even worse, efficacy in the teens such that Merck gave up.
If it were Communist propaganda, they’d say all vaccines are 99.8% effective. Just like North Korea–99.98% voter turnout, 100% voting for Kim Jong Il in that previous election.
@Birny – masks are already required on planes, most people wear them, the question I think is: does this policy increase mask use? It doesn’t meaningfully increase penalties and in most cases means more exceptions rather than fewer exceptions. So it’s pure politics (which by the way explains the medical exemptions) and signaling.
Thanks for the response, Gary, and appreciate the rational discourse. Not sure why you think this is pure politics. Who’s he trying to score points with? The scientific projections indicate that consistent mask wearing will reduce the number of deaths that would otherwise occur. Why is Presidential leadership to encourage mask use “politics?” You focus on planes, but the order covers other types of transportation and mask use will increase for those types of interstate transpiration. Thanks again.
@Birny – the politics piece is it’s difficult for the Biden administration to come out against ADA-style medical exemptions
Lufthansa: Beginning Feb. 1, the German airline would require passengers to wear only surgical masks, FFP2, KN95, and N95 masks.
The other airlines are sure to follow.
Here’s a tip: stop freaking traveling like it’s an entitlement. Stay at home. There, no mask problem
@jamesn
The only hoax is you. A fake fool, just like Chump
@Todd
Everyone should remind Todd his Qanon membership fee is due!
I expected lots of families with kids to be kicked off flights. I fact, if you have kids better stay home. Forget about going to Disneyworld for the rest of the year and perhaps the rest of this decade.
@notamazinglarry
Need to stand in front of the Capitol with your Chumpster signs.
“All you mask Nazis will one day finally realize how utterly STUPID AND BRAINWASHED you’ve been.”
No they won’t. They haven’t figured it out yet, and there’s little to suggest they ever will. These are the type of people who appear to relish going through life blissfully ignorant.
@rog….Better be careful these people are entitled! Everyone else is not! Since, View From the Wing, has turned into a political blog, I can cancel this “newsletter”. I get better info from Facebook groups.
@jamesn
Talk aboujt brainwashed. “chump fool”
How’s that bleach taste?
@rog, you need to upgrade your game. You’ll find better rebuttals on the playground. You “debate” like a third grader.
So will we be emptying the jails of “insurrectionists” to make room for all the non-complying mask people or are we just letting gang members and drug dealers out?
Lets get REAL- what disabilities exempt you from wearing a mask? Only those so bad you’re on an Air Ambulance, so it doesn’t apply to open sky carriers. IF you’re that sick or disabled, how can you fly in the first place? Nice try, no mask no fly. AIrlines have already covered this with the agents.
Copy/paste from CDC.GOV
People are not required to wear a mask under the following circumstances:
while eating, drinking, or taking medication for brief periods of time;
while communicating, for brief periods of time, with a person who is hearing impaired when the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication;
if, on an aircraft, wearing of oxygen masks is needed because of loss of cabin pressure or other event affecting aircraft ventilation;
if unconscious (for reasons other than sleeping), incapacitated, unable to be awakened, or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance; or
when necessary to temporarily remove the mask to verify one’s identity such as during Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening or when asked to do so by the ticket or gate agent or any law enforcement official.
The following categories of people are exempt from the requirement to wear a mask:
A child under the age of 2 years;
A person with a disability who cannot wear a mask, or cannot safely wear a mask, for reasons related to the disability;
A person for whom wearing a mask would create a risk to workplace health, safety, or job duty as determined by the relevant workplace safety guidelines or federal regulations.
People on board the following categories of conveyances are exempt from the requirement to wear a mask:
Private conveyances operated only for personal, non-commercial use;
Commercial motor vehicles or trucks, if the driver is the only person in the vehicle or truck;
Conveyances operated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) as long as the operator of the conveyance follows all DOD requirements to prevent spread of COVID-19.
@Terrance Rents:
“Just wear a mask, it’s not that hard or complicated- the same people complaining about wear a mask on a plane , are the same people that wear seat belts and drive the speed limit.”
People drive the speed limit? Funny.
You clearly do not live in California.
Starting tomorrow, when you fly, you have to wear a mask, surgical gloves, a face shield, a full rubber body suit and be sprayed with a disinfectant as you go through the TSA nude-o-scope.
It’s not that hard or complicated.
That’s what happens when fools blindly listen to authority.
It’s very curious how the “science” for 2 year olds having to wear masks exactly coincides with the universal airline policy for lap infants.
It’s also curious how the “science” differs in other parts of the world where masks aren’t required on children as old as 10, depending on the airline and/or country.
These “scientists” all share information and have access to the same medical journals, no? And yet, there is dissension when it comes to mask wearing and children. Very weird.
@jamesn
That’s what I expect from a chump fool the former fascist leader of the free worldrog
@rog…English, dude!
Judging by the reaction, this seems a well measured and much needed requirement to put in place. Even for petty bloggers who need to contort things so they can crow about being right it must feel good to have this in place.
what should be pointed out and perhaps the main benefit from this, is airlines are no longer required to be the sole enforcers of mask wearing on planes. Now with greater clarity of what is required and what is allowed to be exempt, enforcement by bad actors and libertarian posers, can include being placed on the no fly list and a ban from flying on all airlines, not just the one you were on when you flaunted the mask requirement. And like all regulatory enfrocement there will be exemptions and discretion and probably adjustments to how this is applied. And it should still be a benifit to the publice health and the possible survival of the airline business. Heck maybe some thin skinned , self promoting, travel bloggers will be able to get over themselves and get on board with it too. Or not, no one really cares anyway.
Wrong again gleff? Oh well, mabe you can get a free meal out of the deal somehow…
The medical exemption clause is a huge deal and a huge mistake. The delusional people that don’t believe in science and disease and death happening all around them, and the mefirst right wingers who may believe it but don’t care about anyone but themselves will jump on this in a big way. I hope they reverse this clause as soon as possible and go after abusers and refusers in a big way.
Ah yes. The loss of the privilege to make your own decisions just one small decision at a time. After a generation or two, America will be transformed into the socialist society many seem to yearn for . . . and then perhaps we can all fly on USA’s version of Aeroflot. Again one less decision you will need to make and much fewer choices. That curtain you see up in front of you, that’s where the government bureaucrats sit and your points will not get you a seat up there. Keep approving the actions of the party of “liberals and intellectuals” and you can share with your grandchildren how it was in “the golden years of Aviation.”
Imagine having a problem wearing a mask during a global pandemic. Americans have turned into whiny little children. Waahhhh big gubment issued rules that align with scientific consensus on how to curb Covid. They are taking away my freedumb to be ignorant! Waahh.
I’m over here just enjoying life as normal in New Zealand lol.
Also this blog has too much political leanings for my taste. -1 reader
@John Haywood. No they haven’t “turned into” whiny little children. They (well a cetain subset of us) already were. They whine and moan and whip out their guns and conspiracy theories whenever there is the slightest inconvenient truth. Doesn’t matter how implausible.
I don’t think you were right at all. As long as they don’t blindly hand out medical exemptions I see this as leading to more mask compliance and less confrontation with FAs now that passengers know they can’t bully their way with the staff.
@James N – still taking the blue pill I see? Don’t you recognize the truth is right in front of your face if you take the red pill?
@One Trippe – you truly are clueless and quite the drama queen to boot…”bless your little heart”
Ahh… no Todd is not making that up.
https://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/findfield.php?TABLE=ON&GROUP1=CAT&EVENTS=ON&VAX=COVID19
Also, the CDC lost their court case this month and has removed their statement for years “Vaccines do not cause autism” from their website. Wonder why that was covered in mainstream???
Trapped on a closed tube with hundreds of people for several hours and masks magically protect you? HAHAHA! Masks have not cut down on the spread anywhere where they are used, even in cities and areas in super high usage rate for over half a year. If they work, how come they aren’t working?
This million miler is not getting on a plane until I am vaccinated, and at that point don’t care if anyone around me is masked or not, just like I don’t care about measles, polio or lots of other diseases that are a lot more dangerous that I have surely been near in my years of domestic and international travel. And even then I will likely avoid travel until mask rules are lifted as they are dehumanizing. I’ll happily show my proof of vaccination and see everyone’s smiling face.
But the maskers will keep insist on masking, even if everyone on the plane had proof of vaccination since masking is not about the science, it is an article of faith that no proof, data or testing will ever shake. Just today Disney announced that proof of vaccination will not let you remove your mask (where is the science in that announcement?).
@whatever
The science is only a few clicks away if you want to look it up, read and understand.