Originally Posted by
DJ_Iceman
This is actually a fascinating question. For the record, I'm strongly anti-mask and gladly remove mine the instant I am not required to wear one in any situation. But I know that there is a very sizable chunk of the population that trends anywhere from mildly to strongly in the other direction
UA *could* make a business decision that they will maintain their own mask requirement in an effort to differentiate themselves from the competition and to appeal to those who would simply feel safer if everyone still had to mask up on board. This would of course have to be weighed against the passengers they'd lose, but I'd be surprised if they're not at least studying it to see what the best option would be. Remember that UA has come out strongest in favor of a vaccine mandate for employees, so there's already precedent for them to take a hard-line view on COVID matters.
I'm in that weird cognitively dissonant place with myself where I hate wearing masks for long periods of time (like flying or full-day meetings with clients) but have no problems doing it for a quick trip to the store but I also understand the scientific findings and that at least in theory "my" mask does more for you than it does for me. I tend to be on the more selfish but not totally heartless side which makes "my face, my choice" a position that's a bit harder for me to personally preach.
It wouldn't surprise me if UA stuck with a private mandate if/when the feds let the TSA mandate expire (ala their crew vaccination requirements) but it also wouldn't surprise me if it's gone (perhaps positioned as "encouraged" or "recommended") as soon as everyone else can drop it. With some of United's decision making in the past I could also see any number of harebrained attempts to meet in the middle that would be all but impossible to actually implement and likely as actually effective as nothing at all (among them: Separate "masked" and "unmasked" portions of the cabin ala the old smoking or non; "mask unless proof of vaccination" -- I can already see the torch-bearing flight attendants for that one). Speaking of FA's I think AFA will be the biggest thorn in UA's side on that one and can only hope we don't see in-flight service backslides after finally making progress in the right directions regardless of the fate of masks when UA is able to make that decision themselves.