JetBlue is bringing back fresh food to its premium cabin, and bringing back liquor to its flights starting March 15. American Airlines already brought back food to domestic first class, but its coach cabin remains dry. The airline has said it won’t bring back alcohol until the federal mask mandate is lifted.

American and JetBlue are in a close-knit alliance in the Northeast, and there’s a strong desire to align their products. I’m not sure JetBlue’s move tips American to bring back booze though. There are greater differences in product between the airlines than whether they service alcohol in the main cabin. And JetBlue was already serving beer and wine, while American offered a dry coach cabin.

When Southwest Airlines starting serving drinks again last month, that seemed like it would mean more pressure on American than JetBlue’s move. After all, both airlines are Dallas-based and Southwest is the traditional largest airline in the U.S. domestic market.

While I suppose American could backtrack on its long-standing position of ‘no alcohol until the mask requirement is lifted’ (and would need to do so if masking on planes became permanent) it seems like they can wait this one out. The transportation mask mandate will be gone by summer if it isn’t gone on March 19th.

• The current rule runs through March 18th. It seems like it should be extended soon if it’s going to be! But it’s been extended with as little as 11 days’ notice in the past.

• CDC guidance that no longer recommends masking indoors for over 70% of the United States makes it hard to argue for continued mandatory masking on planes which benefit from HEPA air filtration and downward airflow. Masks were not required at the State of the Union (though Covid testing was).

• The administration needs to declare victory on the virus as it heads into the midterm elections, with control of both the House and Senate at stake. They can’t be the party hanging onto restrictions, where voters have to cast a ballot against them to lift restrictions.

I’ve been betting the mask mandate gets extending once more, for two months, but that’s never been a strong conviction. It seems equally likely the mandate could lapse. Indeed, the Biden administration is considering allowing this.

The administration has been concerned about appearing to declare victory too early and be proven wrong – when the right policy approach would be to require masks when warranted, and not to require them when conditions do not require it.

When mask rules were introduced (by airlines, not government) they made sense. Even if you didn’t like wearing a mask, it helped that everyone around you was wearing one. In 2020 it was important to delay infections where possible, and the benefit wasn’t just protecting hospital capacity it was delaying to the point where we had vaccines and treatments available.

We are not now overwhelming hospitals, and we have medical advances. And cloth masks that meet the requirement don’t do that much anyway, especially against Omicron. Now.. get your booster, wear an N95 if you want, manage your risk appropriately. A federal transportation mask mandate – imposed because the government could claim the authority, rather than because it represented the greatest risk area – simply doesn’t make sense at this point.