Steve Cohen — who is a Democratic member of the House of Representatives of the United States serving the ninth district of Tennessee and a senior member of the Aviation Subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure — wrote a letter urging that passengers should be required to use face masks while aboard airplanes to mitigate the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus in air travel to key people who head four departments of the federal government of the United States…
Passengers Must Wear Face Coverings or Masks With These Airlines Based in the United States
…but action as a result of that letter may not be necessary, as several airlines which are based in the United States have already enacted their own policies of requiring passengers to wear face coverings or masks that cover their mouths and noses while aboard their airplanes.
At the time this article was written, the airlines which have announced these requirements include:
American Airlines
American Airlines will require that all customers wear a face covering or mask while on board the aircraft while traveling effective as of Monday, May 11, 2020. Exempt from the requirement of this new policy are:
- Very young passengers — including children
- Those passengers with conditions which prevent them from wearing a face covering
- Masks will not be required at other points along the journey — including
- When checking in for the flight
- During boarding
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines will require that all customers wear a face covering or mask — which will be provided to passengers who do not bring their own face covering or mask — effective as of Monday, May 4, 2020:
- During the process of checking in for the flight
- During the boarding process
- While on board the aircraft
- While at baggage claim
- In Delta Sky Club airport lounges
- Exempt from the requirement of this new policy are:
- Very young passengers — including children
- Those passengers with conditions which prevent them from wearing a face covering
- Masks will not be required during meal service
Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines will require that all customers wear a face covering or mask effective as of Friday, May 8, 2020:
- At all ticket counters
- At all gate areas
- While on board the aircraft
- Exempt from the requirement of this new policy are very young passengers — including children — who are unable to maintain a face covering or mask
JetBlue Airways
As first reported in this article here at The Gate on Thursday, April 28, 2020, JetBlue Airways will require that all customers wear a face covering or mask effective while on board the aircraft as of Monday, May 4, 2020:
- During the process of checking in for the flight
- During the boarding process
- While on board the aircraft
- Leaving the aircraft
- Exempt from the requirement of this new policy are very young passengers — including children — who are unable to maintain a face covering or mask
United Airlines
United Airlines will require that all customers wear a face covering or mask effective while on board the aircraft as of Monday, May 4, 2020; but complete details have not yet been announced at the time this article was written — although a policy similar to those of the aforementioned airlines is expected.
Summary
Both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initially advised against wearing face masks in response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic, as they were deemed not necessary in order to stay healthy…
…but then on Friday, April 3, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an advisory with the recommendation of covering your face with a simple cloth face covering — such as a scarf as one of many examples — in order to slow the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the United States.
That the five aforementioned airlines followed suit by implementing their own requirements was not unexpected — do not be surprised if the remaining airlines follow suit with their own policies — but as the official press releases of some of the airlines seem to indicate that wearing facial coverings and masks is considered part of the etiquette of flying as passengers aboard the airplanes of commercial airlines, does this mean that the new policies are now permanent?
All photographs ©2007, ©2014, ©2016, ©2018, and ©2019 by Brian Cohen.
