Flight Attendants Believe Mask Mandate Should Be Extended

By: Alana DeRose

Several states are stopping the requirement of a mask and rates for the Covid-19 vaccination are rising, so this is leading many travelers into wondering when can they start flying without a mask.

Flight attendants don't want it to be anytime soon.

The president of the largest flight attendants union stated during a senate subcommittee Wednesday that "the federal mask mandate on planes and airports, signed by President Joe Biden in January and due to expire May 11, should be extended through September," according to USA Today.

The union represents flight attendants at United, Alaska, Spirit and Frontier airlines and has been pushing the message, "Get vaxxed, wear a mask and come fly with us."

"We are still in the middle of a crisis", president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Sara Nelson, said during the U.S. senate subcommittee Wednesday. "I do think it's important that we recognize that and stay the course here with the mask policies, with all our diligence and with the efforts to get the vaccine out to everyone."

U.S. airlines have for nearly a year now required passengers to wear a mask and were successful in getting a federal mask mandate once Biden took office.

According to Nicholas Calio, CEO of the trade group Airlines for America stated that the airline industry supports an extension of the mask mandate too.

President, Joe Biden agrees, as he states, "The last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that, in the meantime, everything's fine, take off your mask, forget it. It still matters."

While Republican senator of Mississippi, Roger Wicker believes that there's a possibility of the mask mandate being extended but "some day the mask requirement needs to end."

"Or are we just going to know it when we see it and just feel our way along until somebody finally says this is totally pointless to do this any further," Wicker asked Dr. Leonard Marcus, director of the Aviation Public Health Initiative at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Marcus has published two airline-sponsored reports on travel safety during the pandemic with other Harvard public health researchers and states that "coronavirus variants make it difficult to determine when masks will no longer be needed," according to USA Today.

"So right now our recommendation from the science community is to continue wearing a mask."

Marcus also states that there's growing evidence that people who have been vaccinated and gathering outside have a lower risk of transmission so the taking off of masks is becoming an option in that scenario.

However, the lack of sufficient data on whether people who have already been vaccinated can become infected or spread the virus does make it difficult on creating a set time.

"I think we probably both agree we'd like to take our masks off, but lets wait to do it until this crisis is in the rearview mirror", Marcus said in response to Wicker.

Wicker then responded, "Well, we're going to wait to do it until the government changes the requirement. It does seem though, sometime in the future; this thing needs to end."