Passengers wearing protective masks wait to board a Delta Air Lines Inc. flight at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday, April 7, 2021.
Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Delta Air Lines chief health officer Henry Ting said he believes the federal mask mandate for airports and airplanes will go into effect on “March 18″. April or shortly thereafter”.
Speaking at CNBC’s Healthy Returns event on Wednesday, Ting said that while he doesn’t know if the mandate is on the 18th roadmap.”
“We have always known since the beginning of the pandemic that all restrictions should be lifted as soon as it is safe to do so,” Ting said, adding that a transition from “a global pandemic to a seasonal respiratory virus” is taking place.
Ting, a renowned cardiologist who was named Delta’s first chief health officer in January 2021, said the airline’s ventilation, cleaning and masking efforts amid the pandemic have resulted in “few to no outbreaks that a Flight could be attributed. “
The US extended the requirement for masks to be worn on planes and airports, as well as on buses, trains and other transportation, until April 18 before phasing out on March 19. The Biden government initially issued this mask mandate shortly after the president took office in January 2021 and has repeatedly extended it since then. Under President Trump, there was no government mandate regarding masking, but airlines, including Delta, enacted their own mask requirements dating back to the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020.
The aviation industry has resisted further extensions of the mandate in recent months. On March 23, Delta CEO Ed Bastian, along with the CEOs of American Airlines, Alaska Air Group, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and others, sent a joint letter to Biden saying it was “past time”. Eliminate “COVID-era transportation guidelines”, including the requirement to wear masks on airplanes and in airports.
“As we have entered a different phase of dealing with this virus, we strongly support your view that COVID-19 no longer needs to control our lives,” the letter reads. The CEOs also called for the lifting of international pre-departure testing requirements for incoming US passengers.
Ting said the CDC is aware that airports and airplanes are “really the last place that masks are required,” adding that in the “rest of America” you can go to restaurants, churches and sports venues , where masking is optional. “
He also noted the impact that both compliance and enforcement of these rules have had on Delta employees, flight attendants and crew over the past two years. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, more than 71% of a record-breaking 5,981 reports of unruly passenger behavior in 2021 were linked to disputes over mask regulations.
“It was a tough two years for our people,” he said. “This is the final area where I think the CDC is looking at when it’s safe to have an exit ramp and lift the mask mandate.”