You could be flying maskless soon if a group of airlines has its way. Ten U.S. airlines and cargo carriers are asking President Biden to lift the mask mandate on flights.
The CEOs of airlines including Delta, American, Southwest, JetBlue and others are asking the Biden administration to end the mask mandate that is currently set to expire on April 18. They say that with the various vaccines and treatments available to fight COVID-19, the masks are not as necessary on flights as they previously were.
They are also requesting that COVID-19 test requirements for international travel end.
Some European countries have already started the practice.
But not everyone thinks it is a good idea.
Dr. Hans Kluge, regional director for Europe, World Health Organization, said: “Those countries are lifting restrictions brutally from too much to too few.”
The White House said it is consulting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about lifting it earlier as the agency reports that cases are trending down.
It is also warning that the new Omicron subvariant is more transmissible than the original version.
“Our vaccines work. Our boosters work. And it does not indicate more severe disease than the original Omicron,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC.
It’s is still not known who might need another booster.
If the Biden administration does lift the COVID-19 transportation mandates now, it can always re-impose them later.
“We look at hospitalizations for COVID-19. We look at hospital capacity, and, importantly, we also look at cases, so all of those go into the formulation as we used those metrics for future guidance,” she said.
According to airlines, it’s difficult to rationalize mask rules on board given that they’ve already been lifted in indoor locations.
But some travel health experts say airplane cabins and airports need to have a more careful approach.