With several states lifting mask mandates and COVID-19 vaccination rates on the rise, travelers are starting to ask when they will be able to fly without wearing a mask.
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It shouldn’t be anytime soon, flight attendants say.
The federal mask mandate on planes and in airports, signed by President Joe Biden in January and due to expire May 11, should be extended through September, the president of the largest flight attendants union said during a U.S. Senate subcommittee meeting Wednesday.
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“We are still in the middle of the crisis,” Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said during a meeting of the Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee. “I do think it’s important that we recognize that and stay the course here with the mask policies, with all of our diligence (and) with the efforts to get the vaccine out to everyone.”
The union, which represents flight attendants at airlines including United, Alaska, Spirit and Frontier, recently began doling out stickers to vaccinated flight attendants. The message: “Get vaxxed, wear a mask and come fly with us.”
U.S. airlines have required passengers to wear masks for nearly a year and repeatedly asked for a federal mask mandate to help them enforce it on flights. The efforts were unsuccessful until Biden took office.
The airline industry supports an extension, too, Nicholas Calio, CEO of the trade group Airlines for America said during the hearing.
They are likely to find support from Biden given his criticism of governors who have lifted mask mandates. In early March, he called such moves a big mistake.
“The last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that, in the meantime, everything’s fine, take off your mask, forget it,” Biden said. “It still matters.”
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker represents Mississippi, one of the state’s that rolled back its mandate. He said the federal mask mandate will likely be extended but can’t be extended forever.
“Some day the mask requirement needs to end,” he said during the hearing.
He asked Dr. Leonard Marcus, director of the Aviation Public Health Initiative at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, what metrics will be used to make the decision.
“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 said.
Marcus, who along with other Harvard public health researchers has published two airline-sponsored reports on travel safety during COVID-19, said coronavirus variants make it difficult to determine when masks will no longer be needed.
So, too, does the lack of sufficient data on whether people who have been vaccinated can become infected or transmit the virus.
“So right now our recommendation from the science community is to continue wearing a mask,” he said.
Fact check: CDC still recommends masks after vaccine
Marcus said there is growing evidence that vaccinated people gathering outside have a low risk of transmission so taking masks off is becoming an option there.
Not so indoors, including airplanes and airports, he said.
“I think we probably both agree we’d like to take our masks off, but let’s wait to do it until this crisis is in the rearview mirror,” Marcus told Wicker.
Wicker’s response: “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.”
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Alaska Airlines
Who must wear:
Medical exemptions: No
Prohibited face coverings: Masks with direct exhaust valves, face shields without masks underneath and face coverings that don’t cover a passenger’s nose and mouth
Details: Alaska website
Allegiant Air
Who must wear:
Medical exemptions: Passengers with medical conditions that prevent the use of a face covering must present documentation from a medical doctor to the gate agent one hour prior to departure.
Prohibited face coverings: None
Details: Allegiant website
American Airlines
Who must wear:
Medical exemptions: No
Prohibited face coverings: None. Face shields must be worn with a mask or other face covering underneath. The airline says cloth scarfs and bandannas are allowed if they cover your nose and mouth.
Details: American website
Delta Air Lines
Who must wear:
Medical exemptions: Passengers with an underlying medical condition that prevents them from wearing a mask must complete a “clearance-to-fly” process including a medical consultation over the phone with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center at the airport, a process it says takes an hour before the flight. The airline notes that it’s encouraging those who can’t wear masks to “reconsider flying” during the pandemic.
Prohibited face coverings: Any mask with an exhaust valve. Plastic face shields must be worn with an approved face covering.
Details: Delta website
Frontier Airlines
Who must wear:
Medical exemptions: None
Prohibited face coverings: Open-chin triangle bandannas; face coverings with vents, valves or mesh; and face shields without masks underneath. Face coverings must fit snugly over your nose and mouth and be secured under the chin.
Details: Frontier website
JetBlue
Who must wear:
Medical exemptions: None
Prohibited face coverings: Open-chin triangle bandannas; face coverings with vents, valves or mesh; and face shields without masks underneath. Face coverings must fit snugly over your nose and mouth and be secured under the chin.
Details: Frontier website
Southwest Airlines
Who must wear:
Medical exemptions: None
Prohibited face masks: Face coverings with holes, including exhaust valves; face coverings made solely of mesh or lace; bandannas and other face coverings that cannot be secured under the chin; face shields without a face covering underneath. Neck gaiters are allowed if they cover the nose and mouth and are secured under the chin.
Details: Southwest website
Spirit Airlines
Who must wear:
Medical exemptions: None
Prohibited face masks: Open-chin triangle bandannas, face coverings containing valves or mesh material, and face shields worn alone. All face coverings must fit snugly cover the nose and mouth and be secure under the chin and have at least two layers of fabric.
Details: Spirit website
United Airlines
Who must wear:
Medical exemptions: None.
Prohibited face coverings: The face mask or covering may not have any vents or openings. A face shield alone does not count as a face covering.
Details: United website
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How long will masks be required on planes? Flight attendants say mandate should be extended
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