those to and from Canada, the U.S. and Germany.
The UK-based airlines easyJet, Jet2 and Tui have all lifted in-flight mask requirements for flights that originate and end at locations that don’t require masks, including England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Will the U.S. follow suit?
Whether or not the U.S. will take Europe’s lead and officially end the mask mandate on April 18 depends on a decision from the White House. As to be expected, many people are divided on whether or not the mandate should come to an end. Some flight attendants believe the mandate should be extended while others believe it isn’t worth it due to the problems they face enforcing it.
Last month, a group of nine flight attendants from Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier, Southwest and United filed a lawsuit alleging that the mask mandate is unconstitutional. The flight attendants say mask requirements on airplanes lead to hostility and violence toward them, ABC4 notes.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported 668 out of 1,035 cases of unruly passengers in 2022 have been related to face masks as of March 2022.
On the other hand, A Harris Poll of 2,097 respondents from April 3 shows that 60 percent of Americans support extending the masking requirements beyond April 18.
Some people believe that a decision on mask mandates should be based on COVID cases while others believe that case counts are irrelevant as long as vaccines are preventing serious disease. However, not everyone on a plane can count on vaccines protecting them and the people they live with from severe COVID infections.
“COVID is not over,” says Leonard Marcus, the director of Harvard’s Aviation Public Health Initiative, which produced a report that some airline executives have used to rationalize ending mask requirements. He says it’s too soon to decide if BA.2 merits an extension of the federal mask mandate. However, he says, if the mandate is lifted it will be difficult to reinstate it.
Airlines usually follow the protocols put in place by the Transportation Security Administration, which means if the mandate isn’t extended, the airlines are likely to return to the “no mask necessary” policy.
“We remain in communication with the Administration as they reassess the existing mask requirements and work to identify a path forward from COVID-era policies,” an Association of Flight Attendants representative told CNET.
RELATED: 3 Things to Consider With Mask Mandates Lifting
How to protect yourself if the mask mandate is lifted?
If you are traveling, there are a few ways you can protect yourself from COVID whether or the not the mandate is lifted:
- Wear a face mask while in flight.
- Choose a window seat, if possible — this exposes you to fewer people than an aisle seat.
- Stay up to date on your vaccines.
- Wipe down your seat and tray with a disinfectant cloth.
- Wash or sanitize your hands before eating.