U.S. Won’t Enforce Face Mask Rules On Airplanes and Public Transport After Judge Vacates Mandate

The White House said on Tuesday that the federal face mask mandate had been temporarily revoked after a Florida judge vacated the mandate on the grounds that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had failed to follow the normal rulemaking process when it created the mandate more than a year ago.  The mandate has been extended several times, most recently to May 3 on BA.2 sub variant worries.

Despite the decision to ditch enforcement of the mask mandate, a Biden administration official said Tuesday that the Department of Justice was considering lodging an appeal against the decision by federal judge Kathryn Mizelle in the U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida.

Following Tuesday’s legal victory by opponents of the mandate, travelers had initially been told to carry on as normal and continue masking up.  Airlines, including United and JetBlue, said the mask rules remained in force and that enforcement would continue.

Alaska Airlines was one of the first carriers to announce it would ditch face mask rules following the court’s decision.  “Face masks have been like boarding passes for nearly two years — you couldn’t fly without one,” the airline said in a statement.  “But, as of today, masks are optional in airports and onboard aircraft, effective immediately.”

“Due to a judicial decision in our federal court system, the mask mandate has been overturned, which means our guests and employees have the option to wear a mask while traveling in the U.S. and at work,” the statement continued.

A spokesperson said the majority of passengers who had been banned over the last two years for refusing to wear a face mask would now be allowed fly with the airline.  However, some passengers whose “behavior was particularly egregious” will remain banned.

United Airlines later said it would drop mask rules on all domestic flights and on select international flights where the destination country doesn’t require masking – such as England and Jamaica.

The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) urged calm and patience, telling travelers that it can take “a minimum of 24-48 hours to implement new procedures and communicate this throughout the entire network”.

“In aviation operations, it is impossible to simply flip a switch from one minute to the next,” the union said.  “Policies and procedures must be updated and thoroughly communicated to hundreds of thousands of employees, along with millions of travelers. Announcements and signage, electronic and physical must be updated.”