HerpaYvr

Such great news, no more masks!

I stopped wearing a mask in airports about three months ago with no issues. I get asked to wear one through CATSA and then off it comes when I go through and of course on again when boarding. I no longer will need to take two hours to drink my coffee so I can retire the infinity coffee cup, lol

To avoid wearing that useless cloth on my face I have been flying through the US to Europe and the middle east for a much more pleasant flight not having AC cabin crew on you when your nose pops out !! Living near the border is also cheaper and no masks on UA when flying to my baseball games. Now that revenue can be returned to Canada.

D404

Worth noting there has been no official word from Air Canada or WestJet yet.

I can see it being... contentious... with airline staff, given some of the FAs have acted as if I have personally assaulted them for not eating my dinner fast enough (yes, really), and a few wear full hazmat-y things still.

analogueman

Toronto Pearson twitter just replied to someone and confirmed no masks in the airport from October 1st.

It’s almost like it’s back to February 2020 again!

HerpaYvr

I will say I believe some of them loved their empowerment and enjoyed the use of that power. There was no time limit for eating in Transport Canada's rules as people have dietary needs and conditions. The silliness of taking a mouth full of food putting your mask on and then taking another mouth full of food and putting the mask back on was and is ridiculous. If you are that afraid or paranoid perhaps a new professional should be considered or just stay hiding in your parents basement!

Even now those wearing masks, having their nose out, why bother wearing one? Just silly and continuous, make it voluntary, if you feel safe and comfortable wearing one, go ahead, enjoy it.

I am sure the airlines will come out soon after their legal departments read the update, debate it, do their risk assessments etc

YYZ1313

I flew LAS-YYZ with AC a few weeks ago and I heard some FAs telling passengers walking on the plane that they had to wear a mask and that sadly, it is what it is and they also couldn't wait for things to change.

Westjet has been pretty open recently about wanting the mask mandate to end: https://www.travelweek.ca/news/westj...ikely-to-ease/

bambinomartino

Exactly. Duclos himself referred to that during the press conference. Mask aficionados overestimate the number of people who are as terrified of the virus as they are.

On the first leg of my last AC trip over Labour Day weekend the FAs were a bit strict but I suspect it was only due to a passenger raising a stink over my 9-yr-old's nose sticking over his mask as soon as we boarded.

There was poor compliance on the second leg, and not a peep from the FAs.

Covidian98

I don't think the Canadian airlines will act differently from the American ones, that dropped their mask requirements almost immediately after the federal government did.
We also know the top leadership of AC and WestJet were for dropping the mask mandates. With regards to flight attendant, I think most of them don't care if pax were masks, since they already had been infected, and no longer have any fear of Covid.

yyztozag

https://t.co/NCEj5IOyiy
https://t.co/vIsBSacuc7

yyzflyer

FWIW, we flew last week on the temporary AA non-stop between LAX and YYZ. Masking was enforced from gate to gate, with repeated reminders onboard. Some US carriers were abiding with the rules whether they agreed with them or not. WestJet was funnier on the outbound with the FA announcing "If we have to wear these things for 10 hours today then you folks can surely wear them for 5".

daveyurek

Any predictions/experiences about how the masking enforcement will happen between now and Saturday?

rankourabu

It's at the bottom of the AC announcement

Masking
Customers will no longer be required to undergo health checks for air travel or wear masks on board flights. Although the masking requirement is being lifted, all customers are strongly recommended to wear high quality and well-fitted masks for the length of their journey.


This is good news for me, stuck flying longhaul AC on the 2nd. IME there has been little enforcement on United coming in and out of YYZ over the last 3 months, or at YYZ itself. The only place there has been strict enforcement was onboard AC

TheCanuckian

None of us know, obviously. But I expect the announcements will keep playing and the flight attendants will keep enforcing to the end. As they should, I suppose, since it's their job to enforce the rules and the rules don't expire until 1st.

jackmaninov

Has anyone flown yet today? How are things looking with the restrictions dropped?

lewis_m

The ArriveCAN app was updated to remove everything related to COVID. Only the optional custom declaration remains.
On a flight to LAS yesterday, masks we're not enforced at all.

Nayef

This is gonna take a while to digest.