Passengers, almost all wearing face masks, board an American Airlines flight to Charlotte on May 3, 2020, in New York.
Eleonore Sens | AFP | Getty Images
President Joe Biden on Thursday signed an executive order requiring masks on planes, trains, buses and airports as coronavirus infections continue to increase.
The Trump administration has refused to impose masks for air travel and other means of transport, leaving it to private companies to define their own policies, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have repeatedly recommended their use.
This left flight attendants and other officials to enforce the rules. Labor unions that pushed for a federally masked mandate applauded Biden’s order.
“What a difference leadership makes! We welcome President Biden’s national approach to ending the virus and getting us out of this pandemic,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the largest union of flight attendants in the world. country in a statement. “Today, executive action over a masked mandate for interstate travel, including airports and airplanes, will provide the support needed for flight attendants and aviation workers on the front lines.
Julie Hedrick, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents American Airlines’ cabin crews, also applauded the change.
“As passengers travel on different airlines and at various airports, they deserve to have clear expectations about what the rules are. We thank President Biden for taking care of this immediately,” she said in a statement.
All major airlines in the United States require travelers to wear masks on board – a policy that extends to airports. Airline executives say the vast majority of customers follow the rule, but have pledged to be tough on those who refuse. Over the past week, airlines have banned more than 2,500 people from flying because they refuse to wear facial covers. The FAA noted that some rare cases have even become violent.
The FAA warned this month that it will crack down on unruly behavior and travelers who fail to follow the crew’s instructions, fining those travelers up to $ 35,000.
Air travelers, including citizens, will also have to show a recent negative Covid-19 test result before flying to the United States from abroad, Biden ordered, reiterating a CDC policy released last week. This rule goes into effect on Tuesday.
Biden said travelers should be quarantined after arrival.