On Monday, a federal judge struck down a mask mandate on public transportation set by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). And while the Biden administration is deciding how to respond to the decision, several of the U.S.’s top airlines and ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft lifted their mask mandates, a move some have decreed for the effect it may have on immunocompromised people and those who are unable to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
On several major airlines, the effects of the ruling were immediate: In some cases, the reveal that masks were no longer required on flights arrived while passengers were in mid-flight. Passengers could still wear them if they wished, but they were now allowed to take them off if they wished. It’s a move that, in some cases, was met with applause.
In one video, a flight attendant is seen singing, “Throw away your masks” as he holds a garbage bag allowing passengers the opportunity to do so.
In another, which was posted by Sen. Dan Sullivan’s (R-Alaska) press secretary Ben Dietderich, you can hear people cheering on an Alaska Airlines flight; the pilot who made the announcement even added “congratulations” after relaying the new policy.
While some people celebrated the end of the mask mandate, others relayed the callousness of seeing the mandate being lifted midflight, a time in which passengers weren’t able to choose whether a mask-optional flight was something they were comfortable with.
But the anger from people over those new policies isn’t just about personal comfort. It’s about the fact that those policies, or the way that Covid-19 is talked about, tend to ignore, forget, or don’t care about immunocompromised passengers (whose Covid cases may still be debilitating or life-threatening) or children under the age of 5 who cannot be vaccinated because the Covid vaccine isn’t yet available to them—and that making a mask policy optional might force them to stay home to protect their own health and avoid possible exposure on a flight.
“Let’s be really clear about what is happening at this stage in the pandemic: We are giving up on public health and embracing the privatization of health in ways that serve the able and young & write off anyone vulnerable,” Meghan O’Rourke wrote.
Delta Airlines, in particular, faced plenty of scrutiny for its statement applauding the mask mandate being removed after it described Covid-19 as having “transitioned to an ordinary seasonal virus.” Critics pointed out how Covid isn’t tied to a particular season and the number of people Covid has killed (and continues to kill), but they also highlighted how little airlines seem to care about passengers’ health.
The statement, which has since been updated “for clarity and accuracy,” now reads, “We are relieved to see the U.S. mask mandate lift to facilitate global travel as COVID-19 transitions to a more manageable respiratory virus—with better treatments, vaccines and other scientific measures to prevent serious illness.”
