American Airlines, United, and Delta to require face masks for all passengers


Passengers on Delta, American, United, and Frontier flights will soon be required to wear masks while on board, the airlines announced Thursday.
Earlier this week, JetBlue became the first U.S. airline to make this a requirement. It is up to each airline to decide whether passengers must wear a face covering, and Democratic lawmakers said their conflicting policies undermine public health. On Wednesday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao asking them to "immediately issue a rule requiring face masks for all individuals engaged in air travel."
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, agrees, and wrote its own letter to Azar and Chao last week. The association is the country's largest flight attendant union, and its president, Sara Nelson, told ABC News that members want to see people wearing face coverings "from the airport door to the airport gate, on the airplane, and then back out through the airport." This would follow a recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she added, "and is exactly what should be happening in our airports and on our airplanes to help contain the spread of the virus."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Tea app hack: user data stolen from women's dating safety app
In The Spotlight Data leak has led to fears users could be targeted by men angered by the app's premise
-
The Assassin: action-packed caper is 'terrific fun'
The Week Recommends Keeley Hawes stars as a former hitwoman drawn out of retirement for 'one last job'
-
The EPA wants to green-light approval for a twice-banned herbicide
Under the radar Dicamba has been found to harm ecosystems
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement