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TSA no longer enforcing US mask mandate

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Old Apr 18, 2022, 9:17 pm
  #16  
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Perrrfffeecctttt!! No more mask mandate! It's over!
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Old Apr 18, 2022, 9:47 pm
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This is great, thanks for the report and pictures!
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Old Apr 18, 2022, 9:53 pm
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by socalflying
If administration does not appeal this, wonder how many days until another judge rules against the test mandate. I'll put the over/under at 2 1/2.
Thankfully they're not. They said they will still recommend masks, however. But it's a win-win for them. They get out of the mask mandate requirements right before the midterms, and they can blame it on a federal judge. I don't see them coming back, personally.
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Old Apr 18, 2022, 10:00 pm
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Originally Posted by mtofell
I'm a little confused about some of the reporting - I've read individual airlines saying you don't have to wear a mask on the plane or in the airport. Do the airlines have control over their area of the airport? I thought that was all TSA/Fed, etc.
Airport restrictions are gone, regardless of the airline. Airlines can still require masks on their planes. United put out a statement saying they're still required earlier, but I'm not sure if they were waiting for more to come out and rescinded it or not.

Also, from my reading (someone correct me if I'm wrong) masks are still required for international flights, likely because other countries might require them, so they have to figure out how it's going to work out I suppose.
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Old Apr 18, 2022, 10:00 pm
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by seigex
Thankfully they're not. They said they will still recommend masks, however. But it's a win-win for them. They get out of the mask mandate requirements right before the midterms, and they can blame it on a federal judge. I don't see them coming back, personally.
Exactly. They got out of having to repeatedly extend it ad infinitum to appease their constituents while having the mean Florida judge to blame. And with the electorate having the attention span of a gnat, it might just stop them from being absolutely destroyed in the midterms.
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Old Apr 18, 2022, 10:02 pm
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Originally Posted by seigex
Airport restrictions are gone, regardless of the airline. Airlines can still require masks on their planes. United put out a statement saying they're still required earlier, but I'm not sure if they were waiting for more to come out and rescinded it or not.
United gave that up, probably about the time they saw reservations being cancelled en masse and rebooked on airlines that publicly stated the masks were done.
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Old Apr 18, 2022, 10:04 pm
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Originally Posted by Xlr
Hopefully we don't see crew availability issues and associated mass cancellations like they had in the UK a couple weeks ago..
I had a feeling something like this would come up, so I tried to find info on what caused the cancellations with UK, and it appears to be, from articles I've read, caused by crew shortages from a sudden surge in travel post-pandemic. They haven't been able to hire enough people to cover all shifts and be able to handle IRROPS. If you have any sources showing otherwise, I'd (100% respectfully) be interested to see it.
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Old Apr 18, 2022, 10:06 pm
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by volabam
United gave that up, probably about the time they saw reservations being cancelled en masse and rebooked on airlines that publicly stated the masks were done.
Thanks for the correction, I'm happy to see that. I give them a pass as they had to see how it would play out and didn't want to jump the gun. Good on them for ending the mandates.
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Old Apr 18, 2022, 10:18 pm
  #24  
 
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I already had my own first normalcy flight almost a week ago, but that was of course outside the US.

Originally Posted by N830MH
Perrrfffeecctttt!! No more mask mandate! It's over!
Indeed, for domestic US flights it's over, but flights to/from foreign destinations will still have requirements, depending on the route and carrier.
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Last edited by Flying Yazata; Apr 19, 2022 at 1:04 am Reason: Fixed quote.
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Old Apr 18, 2022, 10:20 pm
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Originally Posted by seigex
I had a feeling something like this would come up, so I tried to find info on what caused the cancellations with UK, and it appears to be, from articles I've read, caused by crew shortages from a sudden surge in travel post-pandemic. They haven't been able to hire enough people to cover all shifts and be able to handle IRROPS. If you have any sources showing otherwise, I'd (100% respectfully) be interested to see it.
So basically they couldn't handle the increased demand after the mask mandate went away. And of course the doomers spun that as all the flight crew and pilots getting COVID and calling out.
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Old Apr 18, 2022, 11:17 pm
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Originally Posted by volabam
So basically they couldn't handle the increased demand after the mask mandate went away. And of course the doomers spun that as all the flight crew and pilots getting COVID and calling out.
The uptick in travel causing problems in UK airports and with UK airlines has more to do with Easter holidays which traditionally see many families go on vacation when schools break up for Easter.
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Old Apr 19, 2022, 12:54 am
  #27  
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Originally Posted by Xlr
Hopefully we don't see crew availability issues and associated mass cancellations like they had in the UK a couple weeks ago.
Originally Posted by seigex
I had a feeling something like this would come up, so I tried to find info on what caused the cancellations with UK, and it appears to be, from articles I've read, caused by crew shortages from a sudden surge in travel post-pandemic. They haven't been able to hire enough people to cover all shifts and be able to handle IRROPS. If you have any sources showing otherwise, I'd (100% respectfully) be interested to see it.
Originally Posted by volabam
So basically they couldn't handle the increased demand after the mask mandate went away. And of course the doomers spun that as all the flight crew and pilots getting COVID and calling out.
Originally Posted by mrow
The uptick in travel causing problems in UK airports and with UK airlines has more to do with Easter holidays which traditionally see many families go on vacation when schools break up for Easter.
Flight cancellations in the UK started well before Easter holidays and are likely to continue for some time. The increase in demand for air travel was mostly related to the ending of travel restrictions and testing (especially the latter) rather than mask mandate which has not been a big issue in the UK. However Covid infection rate has been on the increase since restrictions ended. Flight cancellations are mostly due to staff shortage through Covid-related absence as well as the delay in recruiting and training airport and airline staff after thousands of jobs were lost and many workers left the industry during the pandemic.

Flight cancellations continue due to staff shortages (BBC)
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Old Apr 19, 2022, 2:00 am
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The UK shortage is a perfect storm of factors, rather than just COVID. The big issue is really airlines laying off staff, not rehiring quickly, then having delays to hiring process kick in at a time of labour shortage, coupled with massive demand for travel. UK problems mostly short haul and owe a lot to BA problems, rather than wider issues.

As a data point, I have been in a few UK airports recently and mask wearing, even at busy times comfortably under 5% of pax. People are done with it - by all means wear if you wish,but people seem to be voting with their feet over here.

Now to finish off the COVID test requirement and this is a great day!
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Old Apr 19, 2022, 2:55 am
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by jimlad48
The UK shortage is a perfect storm of factors, rather than just COVID. The big issue is really airlines laying off staff, not rehiring quickly, then having delays to hiring process kick in at a time of labour shortage, coupled with massive demand for travel. UK problems mostly short haul and owe a lot to BA problems, rather than wider issues.

As a data point, I have been in a few UK airports recently and mask wearing, even at busy times comfortably under 5% of pax. People are done with it - by all means wear if you wish,but people seem to be voting with their feet over here.

Now to finish off the COVID test requirement and this is a great day!

we’re flying right now from muc to lax, just passed security, no one asked for tests…😁
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Old Apr 19, 2022, 5:53 am
  #30  
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Originally Posted by N830MH
You got it right!! No testing requirements! It's over!
Before this US federal judge struck down the mask mandate, the White House was likely already aware that the US State Department and CDC were in process of downgrading the risk status of nearly all countries for Covid-19 travel. This kind of coordinated adjustment within the Executive is taken by me as a sign that the testing requirement continued to be en route to bite the dust this spring — even before the judge’s canceling of the mask mandate — and thereby meet its end on the timeline I had anticipated earlier this year.
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