Tag Archives for masks.
This month the German government extended its mask mandate for travel through April 2023. But this week German Chancellor Olaf Scholz flew to Canada and went maskless.
You can now choose the level of protection you’re comfortable with when flying, and in most areas of life, but there’s generally no longer a mandate for how others must protect you. For those at high risk that increases the need for good quality masking.
The federal transportation mask mandate ended two and a half months ago. Airlines quickly lifted their own mask requirements. That means passengers no longer have to wear masks, but may do so if they wish. And with the end of mask mandates you can now wear masks that are highly protective and more comfortable, but that had been banned.
It took over a month, but the Department of Justice has finally filed its appeal in the mask mandate case. The original order has expired and the administration hasn’t said whether or not they’d extend it (they almost certainly wouldn’t, but saying so could make their appeal moot).
Never bet against courts upholding government authority, however there are real problems with the CDC’s transportation mask mandate order beyond Administrative Procedures Act issues that have received the most attention.
On the day that the federal mask mandate was vacated by a district court, many employees were understandably excited. There were several inflight announcements that people could remove their masks, as the requirement was lifted by airlines.
Crew were, in many cases, elated. Perhaps too much so.
The federal transportation mask mandate was vacated and unruly passenger incidents immediately fell. That’s great news for airline crew safety. It’s great news for passengers trying to get to their destinations on time. And it’s great for airline bottom lines since it means fewer diversions and delayed passengers to reaccommodate.
The April 18th ruling vacated the mask mandate. The Biden administration did not seek to stay that decision pending an appeal, so the mandate is no longer in place. This new ruling then, from another district court judge, has no real effect. It also does not appear to be a serious decision.
The federal transportation mask mandate has been suspended. Voluntary mask wearing varies by region of the country. Flying out of Austin and New Orleans this week perhaps 5% of passengers were wearing masks, perhaps a little bit more but definitely less than 10%.
What I didn’t understand was that a majority of people who were wearing masks were wearing either cloth or medical masks. Those aren’t protecting the person wearing one, and for several reasons it’s more important for many people to protect themselves on planes than before.
The Justice Department has begun it’s slow-walk of a half-hearted defense of the rule. They’ve filed a notice of appeal with the District Court. Here’s the entirety of the filing.
The CDC and the Administration has bungled this. They should have taken the win of having the mandate end without their having to end it. Now the best they can do is file an appeal, without having the order stayed, and then let the appeal become moot with the expiration of the rule. Worse would be to litigate this aggressively with the ensuing chaos of trying to re-impose the mandate.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
