Tag Archives for masks.
When face mask policies were introduced for air travel last year, ‘but I’m drinking’ became a common excuse and passengers could nurse a Starbucks throughout the entire flight. This is no longer acceptable, or at least while some passengers will still do it – and some flight attendants allow it – the rule doesn’t permit it and you may get kicked off the plane.
You might say that airlines, as private businesses, should be allowed to choose not to transport anyone they wish. But this shouldn’t be viewed as private action, it is state action. The proposal comes in response to an FAA threat that airlines had one week to come up with a solution to unruly passengers.
There is a federal regulation in place on masking. That has a fine as a maximum penalty. Pressuring airlines to impose a more significant penalty than provided for in regulation or law is highly problematic.
The federal government has seen unprecedented levels of passenger incidents on planes this year. About three quarters have related to the federal mask mandate. Yet no one seems to know what to do about it.
The FAA hasn’t solved the issue, so they’re punting to the airlines.
A passenger says she was kicked off of an Alaska Airlines flight because she wore a “Trump 2020” mask. She claims she was ‘discriminated against’ and has created a website to get the word out about many of the people who have had run ins with Alaska Airlines over masks as well as other, unrelated issues.
Here she is on TikTok, though the airline says she’s leaving out the most important part of the story.
A flight attendant on board United Airlines flight 6060 from Charleston to Houston Intercontinental, an Embraer ERJ-175 operated by Mesa Airlines, was photographed appearing to take cash from a first class passenger. Another passenger on board reported on twitter that the cabin crew member “took cash bribes” from passengers up front not to enforce mask rules for the flight.
Another photo from inside the cabin shows at least passengers in the cabin not wearing masks, although the two closest to the person taking the photo are speaking to each other while at least holding a drink.
In April, anti-mask Alaska state senator Lora Reinbold – who had been fined for reusing to properly wear a mask in the state capitol – was banned from Alaska Airlines after she refused to keep her mask above her nose and employees claimed to feel threated by her in the altercation that ensued.
Now, with Alaska Airlines her only option for getting to and from her state’s capitol, she’s asked to be excused from voting through the end of the legislative session. Over the summer she’s flown Delta between Anchorage and Juneau – via Seattle! – but that service is only seasonal.
President Biden has issued an order telling the TSA to double fines for passengers refusing to wear masks on planes and other forms of transportation. This is purely symbolic, because fines – which start at $250 for a first offence – are rarely imposed let alone paid.
The President demanded that air travelers show some respect and that this is the reason for the increased fines.
Perhaps the greatest challenge with Covid-19 has been its infectiousness prior to presenting with symptoms. In generally people with symptomatic Covid are most infectious in the two days prior to showing symptoms and the three days after.
There’s a lot of debate over how effective masks are, and to conflate the different types of masks. What’s important is to continually look at new evidence and update priors when warranted.
This opinion’s key passage makes the exact argument I’ve offered on this site for why CDC authority – on which the TSA mask rule relies – isn’t as broad as the administration claims and upon the mask rule rests.
On Thursday a husband and wife were booted off of American Airlines flight 3996 from Miami to Cincinnati, a regional jet operated by American’s wholly-owned regional subsidiary Envoy Air.
Apparently the woman’s mask slipped off her nose as she boarded the aircraft. It slipped off a second time while the plane was still on the ground. So a flight attendant insisted that she wear an airline-provided mask instead. Since she refused, the flight attendant said the only other option was to get off the plane. They wouldn’t do that – so all of the passengers on board were deplaned.
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 »
