Airline and airport workers are praising a new rule that authorizes the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to fine passengers who refuse to wear masks.
For months, unions and airport administrators have been asking the federal government to impose health policies across the country for air travel.
“Our union has been defending for almost a year for a federal aviation mask mandate. A federal mandate with public messages and clear enforcement mechanisms for federal agencies like TSA will go a long way to keep everyone safe, ”said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents about 50,000 employees on 17 airlines, in a statement Monday.
A spokesman for Service Employees International Union, which has tens of thousands of airport workers among its members, called the mandate a “good first step”, adding that workers need more help with training, personnel and protective equipment. individual.
The TSA rule, which goes into effect on Tuesday and will remain active until May 11, derives from a new order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that requires the use of a mask in transportation centers.
An executive order from President Biden on his first full day in office instructed federal agencies to “act immediately” to demand the use of masks at airports, trains, intercity bus services and ferries.
TSA can now require travelers to wear masks, deny entry or boarding to a passenger who refuses to wear one and hit passengers with a civil penalty if they refuse to comply.
When asked what kind of fines can be imposed, a TSA spokesman told The Hill: “The decision on penalty amounts is not final and the main objective remains voluntary compliance.”
While many airlines have company policies requiring masks for passengers, experts say the new rules mean that employees can now point to TSA policy instead of having to defend corporate policy.
“For those who are doing it, it will be easier to say it is a federal mandate,” said Mahmood Khan, professor of hospitality and tourism management at Virginia Tech University. “If they are challenged, they can say that this is coming from TSA or Homeland Security, so they don’t need to be justified. This will help them. “
Air travel, which has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, may receive a boost with these new safety protocols.
Airlines for America (A4A), which represents the main US airlines, said in a statement on Monday that it appreciates Biden’s decision to implement a facial coverage mandate and that “this measure will help strengthen the capabilities of our crews to enforce facial coverage requirements “.
The statement reached a decidedly different tone from the summer, when the business group refused to endorse a bill introduced by House Democrats that would require masks at all airports and planes.
The Airport Council International-North America, which defends airports, supported the measure, while A4A criticized it.
“While U.S. airlines support and enforce mask requirements throughout the travel experience, we have real concerns about the number of mandates the project intends to impose on our business,” said A4A in a statement at the time .
“The reality is that they never want the government to do things about their business. They want to be agile, less regulating, ”said Eduardo Angeles, managing director and senior legal adviser at the Clark Hill law firm, about airlines.
Major airlines in the United States require masks on flights, often placing passengers on flight exclusion lists if they refuse to comply. Airports, however, were largely subject to state and local regulations, preventing a national standard.
Angeles emphasized that applying the TSA is a way to help airlines and airports to standardize regulation.
“The TSA coming out and saying we are going to enforce this, being mandated by the federal government, is useful,” said Angeles, who served in the Federal Aviation Administration under former President Obama. “Now, basically having the federal government’s oversight arm is a step in the right direction.”
The airline industry was one of the hardest hit during the pandemic. The number of air travel has dropped significantly, prompting the federal government to provide financial assistance to the sector.
TSA screened more than 859,000 people at airport checkpoints across the country on Sunday, less than half of the nearly 1.95 passengers tracked a year ago.
Experts say applying the mask can help boost customer confidence and help the industry as it recovers from the coronavirus recession.
“This will bring more confidence to service providers,” said Khan. “When it comes from the government, it makes a difference.”
Angeles noted that mandatory masks are a good way to bridge the gap to the “silver bullet” of widespread distribution of the vaccine.
“Mandatory masks are going in the right direction. We’ve talked about it since March 2020, ”he said.