An American judge has invalidated the obligation to wear a mask in public transport, the country’s airlines continuing to recommend it.
On April 18, 2022, Federal Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of Tampa, Florida cancelled the obligation extended by President Joe Biden and the CDC to wear a mask in public transport, and in airports and on planes (extended until May 3 against the Omicron BA.2 variant). Judging that it would be impossible for her to suspend the application of the rule only for the plaintiffs who opposed the federal orders, the judge explained that a partial solution “would amount to doing nothing at all”.
The federal court has “all the powers necessary to intervene even if the objectives of the CDC which seeks to fight against the virus are laudable”, specified judge Mizelle in a decision of 59 pages. “Our system does not allow agencies to act illegally, even for beneficial purposes”; the obligation to wear a mask is therefore deemed “illegal” and cancelled. And she explained that the Centres for the Control and Prevention of Infectious Diseases (CDC) had “not provided sufficient justification to support their decision”, and that they had “not followed the procedure specific to the ‘adopting new rules’.
His judgment dealt with the motion filed in July 2021 by two plaintiffs supported by the Health Freedom defence Fund, described by the judge appointed by Donald Trump as a non-profit organization opposing “laws and rules that force individuals to receive medical treatment, undergo medical procedures, or have medical devices imposed on them against their will”. The prosecution had not yet announced at the time of writing whether it intended to appeal the decision.
American airlines immediately communicated on the subject, United Airlines for example announcing the end of the obligation (including for its employees) while specifying that those who wish to wear a mask can of course do so. The main union of PNC (Association of Flight Attendants) had chosen to remain neutral, the measure dividing the air hostesses and stewards like the rest of the country (several American states had asked for the end of this obligation).
Remember that the obligation to wear a mask creates the same problems on this side of the Atlantic: in the Netherlands, KLM or Transavia, for example, have given up enforcing it for fear of creating incidents in flight. The problem no longer arises across the Channel, where airlines and airports have “dropped the mask” following the announcement of the lifting of travel restrictions. Preceded by Jet2 in early March, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic or other easyJet (but not Ryanair) as well as London-Heathrow, among others, ended the obligation to wear a mask. While “strongly recommending” its use and recalling that the obligation remains in place on planes flying to countries where wearing a mask is still compulsory.