Smiles on a Plane

Wanna get away? Flying the friendly skies just got 'back to normal' - hopefully

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Frequent flyers are breathing easier tonight.

You may have heard earlier today that a Federal Judge named Kathryn Kimball Mizelle down in Florida threw out - voided - flushed (choose your favorite verb) the Biden’ administration’s mask mandate for travelers using public transportation like trains and airplanes.

From Fox News: “Mizelle examined the section of the Public Health Services Act of 1944 that was the basis for the mandate.  That law allows the CDC "to make and enforce such regulations" deemed "necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the States[.]" To achieve this, the law says that CDC can utilize "inspection, fumigation disinfection sanitation, pest extermination, destruction of animals or articles found to be so infect or contaminated as to be sources of dangerous infection to human beings, and other measures[.]" The administration, the judge noted, has claimed that the mask mandate falls under "sanitation."

“The judge noted that one could view "sanitation" as being an active measure to clean or as a preventative measure to keep something from getting dirty or infected, but through an examination of the statutory language, she determined it was the former.”

Initially, some airlines put out cautious statements stressing their mask mandates were still on and they were waiting to be told what to do next by the federal government.

But late today, some dominoes began to fall from the legal decision this morning.

TSA Backing Off

The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) announced they will stop requiring passengers on planes, trains and all public transportation to wear masks.

“Today’s court decision means CDC’s public transportation masking order is not in effect at this time,” an administration official said in a statement. “Therefore, TSA will not enforce its Security Directives and Emergency Amendment requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time.”

Of course, not everyone is happy with this development.

“This ruling is a disappointment. We’re still continuing to recommend that people wear masks.” - White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki

Interesting Detail: This gives me some hope for the future - Judge Mizelle (who overturned the federal mask mandate) was appointed to be a federal judge at age 33 and she has a lifetime appointment. (And yes, she was appointed by President Trump.)

Meanwhile, some airlines have been lobbying to kill the mask rule, while the Association of Flight Attendants (the largest union of cabin crews) is taking a (gutless) neutral stance on the mask rule because their members are split on the issue.

Who Gets the Credit for This Good News?

If you want to thank someone for this mask mandate lift on planes - the credit goes to two women in Tampa Bay and the Health Freedom Defense Fund.