Posted on 02/27/2022 3:03:34 PM PST by lightman
A federal mask mandate for airline passengers will remain intact despite a rule issued Feb. 25 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ease mask guidance in other settings.
The mask mandate for airline passengers and airports, issued by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), remains in effect until at least March 18, when it expires. The mandate could still be extended.
“The mask requirement remains in place, and we will continue to assess the duration of the requirement in consultation with CDC,” TSA spokeswoman Alexa Lopez told news outlets on Feb. 25.
The TSA mandate was announced in January 2021 in the early days of the Biden administration, although U.S. airlines have been required to mandate that passengers wear masks since 2020.
Under the CDC’s announcement, masking mandates have even been dropped in schools and school buses in areas where there are low levels of COVID-19, the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA union said it expects that the mask mandate for air travelers will be extended again.
“The conditions in aviation are the same,” the union said in a statement. “Our youngest passengers do not yet have access to the vaccine. The airplane is a unique, but controlled environment for everyone’s safety. The layered approach to safety and security includes masks. Aviation is a world-wide network that harmonizes safety procedures around the world. It’s also critical that we maintain passenger confidence in the safety of air travel.”
During remarks last week, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that about three-quarters of Americans don’t have to wear masks because they live in communities with medium or low risk from the virus.
“This updated approach focuses on directing our prevention efforts toward protecting people at high risk for severe ailments and preventing hospitals and health care systems from being overwhelmed,” Walensky told reporters on a call.
Walensky said her agency “came up with these indicators, including new hospital admissions and hospital beds utilized, and complimented them with case incidents to really create a package of metrics to be able to understand what’s happening at the local level.”
Throughout the pandemic, the efficacy of masks—especially cloth masks—has been questioned. Although federal health agencies say studies show they are effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19, critics have said those papers’ conclusions are flawed.
As of Feb. 22, there have been more than 600 reports of unruly passengers so far this year, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. About 397 of such incidents were connected to the mask mandate.
The CDC didn’t respond by press time to a request for additional comment.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Because everyone is waiting for CDC guidance.
Because I will drive if I have to go anywhere. LETS GO AIRLINES.
Yep, flying isn’t civilized anymore so I don’t do it. I don’t do big cities for the same reason.
Haven't been on a plane in over two years. I'll wait it out.
My wife and I went to Iceland in January and the worst part was the mask mandates (on the airlines & in country) and the COVID testing. No more foreign travel.
Because power deflects attention from their waitress duties…
Been doing that since the Touch Sensitive Areas was enacted.
Being treated as flying cattle in a TSA sanctioned prison is crazy. And to make it worse, customers pay for the abuse.
The Far Left American Hating Association of Flight Attendants Union owns Brain Dead Biden - The majority of Flight Attendants are Liberal Democrats and keep remind the DNC.
Clueless Joe will never go against the AFA
I’m on a flight now. I prepared by buying a Fake Mask. Easy breathing until this BS is over.
https://abc7ny.com/mask-mandate-school-new-york-state-kathy-hochul/11605830/
Lifted this coming Wednesday.
Then I’ll book my flight to Florida for the 19th👍
Any update on the infamous “Delta Karen” aka Patricia Cornwall? She’s the wild woman who spit on and slugged an 80 y/o man for lowering his Mask to eat while flying on a Delta plane. She was detained and locked up for a while.
A “Fake Mask”? lol!
Look it up! Hilariously ineffective, just like all the other ones.
I have a flight this week, where can I get one?
I personally will not fly if I don’t have to because of this idiocy. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Also, this may stop some of the stupidity from idiots that get kicked off flights for not masking properly, or throwing hissy-fits wearing masks during flights.
I’m sure resident Biden will bail out the airlines with money from the same taxpayers that are being forced to wear face diapers by the airlines.
Joe’s diapers are as full of s#!t as the CDC and the airlines.
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