TSA extends air passenger mask rule until January

(AP) – Federal officials are extending until January to require people to wear face masks on airline flights and on public transportation, a rule designed to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The current order from the Transportation Security Administrations was set to expire on September 13. An agency spokesman said Tuesday that the mandate will be extended until January 18.

The TSA briefed aviation industry representatives on its plan on Tuesday and planned to discuss it with airline unions on Wednesday. The mask rule also applies to employees on airplanes and public transport.

The mask mandate is controversial and has led to many encounters between passengers who do not want to wear masks and flight attendants who have been asked to enforce the rule. The Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday that airlines reported 3,889 incidents involving unruly passengers this year, and 2,867 or 74% involved refusing to wear masks.

Individual airlines declined to comment on the Biden administration’s decision, and their trade group, Airlines for America, said only that US carriers will strictly enforce the rule. A broader group, the US Travel Association, said the expansion has the full support of the travel industry. The largest flight attendant union said the move will help keep passengers and airline staff safe.

We have a responsibility in aviation to keep everyone safe and to do our part to end the pandemic, rather than help its continuation, said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. We are all looking forward to the day when masks are no longer necessary, but were not there yet.

The mask order, based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for responding to the pandemic, was first issued on Jan. 29, days after President Joe Biden took office. Before that, airlines had their own requirements for face coverings, but the former administration of President Donald Trump had refused to make it a federal rule.

The extension was not surprising after a recent surge in COVID-19 cases linked to the delta variant of the virus. The seven-day average of new reported cases has crossed 140,000, a 64% increase from two weeks ago and the highest level in more than six months.

Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group, said the government’s decision will reassure people concerned about the virus.

I expect it will give them more confidence to travel through the fall and winter, including the holidays, Harteveldt said. Those who don’t take the virus seriously are likely to complain, but they have no choice but to suck it up and wear their masks if they want to take a plane flight somewhere.

In recent days, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines have reported that the rise in coronavirus infections has led to a slump in bookings beyond the usual slowdown that occurs towards the end of each summer.

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David Koenig can be reached at: www.twitter.com/airlinewriter

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