US airline CEOs call on Biden to lift mask mandate on travel
The team also termed on Biden to close worldwide pre-departure testing.
A group of CEOs from all major U.S. airways identified as on President Joe Biden to elevate the federal mask mandate on community transportation.
The team — which involves the heads of American Airways, Delta Air Lines, and United Airways — claimed existing restrictions this sort of as international predeparture screening requirements and the federal mask mandate are “no for a longer period aligned with the realities of the recent epidemiological natural environment.”
The team cited improved vaccination charges and the lifting of such limits in other international locations as causes to do absent with the COVID-era procedures.
“It tends to make no perception that men and women are continue to essential to use masks on airplanes, but are permitted to congregate in crowded restaurants, educational institutions and at sporting functions with no masks, inspite of none of these venues getting the protecting air filtration technique that aircraft do,” the letter reported.
In addition, the group mentioned the burden of imposing the mask mandate has fallen on their workers, indicating, “This is not a function they are trained to perform and topics them to daily worries by frustrated consumers. This in change normally takes a toll on their have well-currently being.”
The selection of unruly passengers on planes spiked through the pandemic. This calendar year by itself, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has acquired 961 stories of unruly passengers – 635 of which have been related to facial area masks.
The recent federal mask mandate on general public transportation is established to expire April 18, the Biden administration declared earlier this month.
The letter was signed by CEOs from Alaska Air, Atlas Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, FedEx Categorical, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airways, United Airways, UPS Airways and Airlines for America.
