Will100

Appreciate this is Jet2 news however interested to hear people’s views on likely approach from BA

golfmad

It's easier for regional airlines to adopt different rules. BA and other global airlines need to be mindful of the rules in the territories to which they fly. I don't see BA changing anything until rules change in their largest markets (e.g. USA).

KARFA

I suspect there are very few routes BA operates at the moment where masks are not legally required any any point along the route - which is why it may take a while for BA to relax their blanket policy. Probably LHR-MAN and NCL are the two obvious ones for which there is no law requiring masks at any point for those routes.

I agree it is a move in the right direction and hopefully this will continue during 2022.

omk298

For the reason that golfmad suggests BA will be slower to go down this route. That said, this is very welcome news as the first step towards stopping having mandatory masks. I had feared that they would stick around as long as restrictions on liquids in carry on bags. If at least one airline has changed, others are likely to follow. BA will hopefully end up having to change when a significant proportion people just don't expect to have to wear masks on a plane, if they don't change before.

SandLake

I have read on another forum that Joe Biden is making a State of the Union address tonight and it 'may' include references to Covid - optional masks!

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/01/p...ect/index.html

golfmad

The TSA mask mandate in the USA expires on March 18th 2022. If it's not extended there will likely be rapid changes on board aircraft that fly to/from or within the USA.

Bohinjska Bistrica

I'd have thought masks would go in airports before they go on aircraft.

paulaf

This is the Jet 2 policy:

https://www.jet2.com/en/flights/safe...ce-mask-policy

It reads to me it is all fights to/from England not just domestic as it says you may need to wear one when you arrive at your overseas destination??

crazy8534

Agree, with it seemingly becoming more difficult to travel East by the day I think that BA’s stance is mostly going to follow the CDC/US.

flyertalker00133

I think practically speaking it only has a few months left and will be a de-facto optional choice by the summer.

Those that want to will continue wearing it, those that don’t will have the ‘exemption’ they need to not wear one at least on-board.

For me it was after I had the omicron variant in December (close to zero risk of re-infection and therefore transmission so soon afterwards).

When I checked in at the First wing a few weeks ago every single one of the 8 check-in desk agents were wearing a sunflower lanyard.

Even my previously covid-paranoid 60 year-old parents enquired as to how the exemptions worked the other day.

Don’t shoot the messenger but I think this is a very realistic outlook for the vast majority regardless of airline over-cautiousness in policy.

paulaf

Not sure airlines allow exemption with just the sunflower lanyard? Don't you need a letter from your GP?

Truffles

As someone who wears a sunflower lanyard in Heathrow just so I can sucessfully traverse the airport without crumbling into a heap, I cannot express how annoyed this makes me.

sigma421

Depends on the situation. BA probably would - beyond the initial announcements I’ve never noticed enforcement being particularly proactive (I’ve worn mine on every flight except when eating or drinking before anyone asks).

US based carriers are a different story. The FAA rules have very, very few exemptions and some crews will insist that you raise your mask between every sip of a drink for instance (tbh I’ve found this fairly easy to get used to - but it’s a different approach from BA).

I think, as others have intimated, the FAA rules will be the tipping point for any change in written policy. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if enforcement gets laxer. We may end up in a situation a bit like US carriers with seatbelt signs - where it’s on for hours at a time but people move around the cabin as normal.

PUCCI GALORE

Good - I do hope so and the sooner the better. If people want to wear them - they can. I wear them because I have to. They drive me crackers steaming up - and yes I have tried everything. That everyone has to show that they are vaccinated I accept as they is the reason that we are able to come out of this. I have no doubt that we will all have to have boosters and if one lands in countries where this is an obligation, then so be it.

Never Stansted

One reason for exemption from wearing a mask is severe distress. Am I severely distressed to wear one for my mostly SH flights with plenty breaks to eat and drink? No. Would I be severely distressed if forced to wear one for the vast majority of the working day? Quite possibly, especially as time went on and things showed no sign of changing. Maybe we should all be understanding of the fact that people have different positions on this point and that it bothers some people more than others. That’s especially true now that there’s plentiful supply of N95 masks that serve primarily to protect the wearer, reducing the argument that other people need to wear masks to account for someone else’s concerns about COVID.

back on topic, BA will probably move just after easyJet do. EasyJet will move first as they don’t fly to the US but I doubt BA will be able to avoid moving at that stage because it would likely lose them SH business. Could imagine a different policy on long haul and short haul for a few months perhaps.