Adherence to the airline mask requirements have been inconsistent, and there are exceptions for when passengers must eat and drink. Aside from persuasion, the only tool for airlines if passengers refuse is to prohibit them from taking the flight.
Mask Rules
The new Biden policy could subject passengers to charges. During the entire pandemic, the Federal Aviation Administration has only filed civil charges against two people related to their refusal to wear masks in cases of alleged threats or assaults on flight attendants.
Hundreds of people have been barred from flying on individual carriers for refusing or getting into disputes with flight attendants and pilots over the issue.
In the days surrounding the Jan. 6 pro-Trump mob storming of the U.S. Capitol, numerous incidents were reported on social media and by airlines of people traveling to and from Washington without masks.
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and the Association of Professional Flight attendants, unions that have for months sought a federal mask mandate, hailed the action as a long overdue.
“As passengers travel on different airlines and through various airports, they deserve to have clear expectations on what the rules are,” Julie Hedrick, president of APFA, said in a statement.
Materials summarizing the Biden executive order made no mention of a separate ban on the arrival of most European and Brazilian travelers. Trump announced Monday that he planned to rescind the orders, most of which were enacted last March.
But Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that day the incoming administration plans to block Trump’s move.
“On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of Covid-19,” she tweeted.
The new order comes the same day that U.S. infectious-disease chief Anthony Fauci pledged his country’s commitment to the World Health Organization, including membership in a global effort to deploy Covid-19 vaccines.
Fauci addressed the Geneva-based group Thursday morning, underlining the new president’s effort to mend ties with an agency crucial to fighting the pandemic. He confirmed that the U.S. will join Covax, a 92-nation vaccine collaboration that the Trump administration declined to participate in.
—With assistance from Mary Schlangenstein, Justin Bachman and Lillianna Byington.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.