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."

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