For flight attendants, getting people to wear masks is now one of the most difficult parts of the job

In one case, a flight attendant said that four passengers who did not want to keep their masks harassed her for what they called “a simple mask problem”. The situation became so tense that the plane had to return to its gate. In another incident, a passenger who kept taking off his mask rolled his eyes and told a flight attendant to shut up. Then he shouted, “SHUT UP!”

Other flight attendants were greeted with aggressive and passive displays of defiance. A flight attendant said a passenger refused to put the mask back on after serving drinks on board, despite several warnings. Finally, he said to the crew, “Well, if I hold my water bottle, I can’t wear my mask, right?” He then took a sip of water slowly for the rest of the flight, exploring a policy that allows passengers to remove their masks while actively eating or drinking.

Flight attendants are put in a difficult situation

When airlines institute mandatory masking policies to keep their businesses up and running, the task of enforcing them often falls on flight attendants. In the United States, where this basic security measure against Covid-19 is highly politicized, this task can be challenging. Sometimes, it is totally dangerous.

“Enforcing mass compliance has been one of the most difficult parts of our work,” said Allie Malis, a flight attendant at American Airlines and government affairs representative for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants. “We are considered essential workers, but there is no protection against risks or anything.”

While airlines and crew members note that the vast majority of passengers abide by mask policies, flight attendants’ unions say their members regularly encounter travelers who respond with belligerence, verbal threats and even physical aggression.

In the absence of federal mask regulations, many flight attendants felt that there was little to do to ensure compliance – or to protect themselves against reactions and assaults.

But with President Joe Biden planning to issue an executive order on Thursday demanding masks at airports and planes, that may be about to change.

The FAA is taking a more rigid approach

Until March 30, 2021, passengers who assault, threaten, intimidate or interfere with airline crew members can face fines of up to $ 35,000 and even imprisonment, according to the FAA. The agency had already dealt with such cases with civil warnings and penalties, among other methods.

In a January 13 press release, the FAA said it saw a “worrying increase in incidents where airline passengers disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior”, citing both passengers’ refusal to wear masks and recent violence in the United States Capitol.

In one case, the agency claimed that a passenger on an Allegiant Air flight last August ran over a steward, shouted profanity and grabbed a phone from them while talking to the captain about the passenger refusing to wear a mask. The agency proposed a $ 15,000 fine.

In a separate case in the same month, a passenger on a SkyWest Airlines flight from Atlanta to Chicago took off his mask, pestered other passengers and sexually harassed a flight attendant, the FAA said. The agency proposed a $ 7,500 fine.

A federal mask mandate would provide backup, unions say

Still, a federal requirement to wear masks on airplanes would provide critical support for flight attendants who regularly deal with unruly passengers, the flight attendants’ unions say.

“The lack of federal guidelines or mandates made the job (of flight attendants) more difficult, and was made even more difficult by inconsistent mask mandates in the United States,” said Taylor Garland, spokesman for the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, to CNN.

Garland added that a common replica that flight attendants would hear from passengers who did not want to wear masks was: “It is not the law.” A federal requirement, she said, “would eliminate that point of discussion for them.”

Supporters say it would also make things fairer

A federally masked mandate would also address what passenger rights groups see as an uneven enforcement problem that resulted from airlines having to institute and enforce Covid-19 security measures on their own.

“It is very questionable what authority airlines have in public accommodations to tell people that they should wear a mask and, if not, what the penalties might be,” Paul Hudson, president of FlyersRights.org, told CNN.

“Suppose we left it up to the airlines to decide if you could smoke on a plane. That was for a long time, and each airline had its own policy. It didn’t work very well,” he says. “Uniform rules and laws are the best way and often the only way to have justice, safety and health protection in this case.”

The general counsel of then transport secretary Elaine Chao wrote in a letter that such regulations were not necessary, citing protocols issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and mask policies already in place by airlines and other transport systems. The department also added “there should be no more regulations than necessary.”

There are still doubts

Questions remain as to when exactly Biden’s executive order requiring masks on interstate travel will take effect and how it will be applied.

Defenders like Hudson feared it would not apply without formal approval from the Department of Transportation.

Still, airlines and flight attendants are optimistic.

“Joe Biden has made it very clear that he intends to institute a general national mandate, but also specifically for transportation, including airplanes,” said Garland. “This will go a long way in supporting the flight attendants and making it very clear that you should come on the plane with a mask on and keep it on at all times.”