Flight Attendants Unions Asking for Extension of Mask Mandate

Despite a precipitous fall in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country, and an increase in the call for eliminating mask-wearing at businesses, schools and on airplanes, a pair of unions representing flight attendants say they want the federal mask mandate extended.

The federal mandate, which covers travel in airports and on planes, trains and buses, is set to expire on March 18.

The unions for American Airlines and United Airlines say that while the world might be changing and adapting to COVID-19, the situation on airplane cabins has not changed, according to a story in the Dallas Morning News.

“While more of the world now has access to lifesaving vaccines, we still have a significant portion of the population that are vulnerable, including our youngest passengers,” Paul Hartshorn, a spokesman for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, told the newspaper. The APFA represents more than 24,000 flight attendants at American Airlines.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported that almost three-quarters of the 5,891 reported incidents of disruptive passengers on planes last year were due to the mask mandate.

While the flight attendants are arguing for an extension, even some airline CEOs are advocating that the mask mandate come to an end. Former Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly testified before Congress in December of 2021 that “I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment. It is very safe and very high quality compared to any other indoor setting,” Kelly said during testimony, noting the use of HEPA filters and other effective virus-fighting tools.

But Taylor Garland, a spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents flight attendants at United, Frontier, Spirit and Alaska, told the Morning News that nothing has changed in the cabin to sway the flight attendants.

“The conditions in aviation are the same,” she said. “Our youngest passengers do not yet have access to the vaccine. … The airplane is a unique but controlled environment for everyone’s safety. The layered approach to safety and security includes masks.”