Traveling can be a nightmare.
You’re usually up hours before sunrise to catch your 7am flight. Once you’ve checked your bags, you make your way through security – only to roam the terminal until you’re finally ushered onto the plane like a herd of sheep.
It’s hectic and an all-around exhausting day. Now imagine that you have to wear a mask during the entire process.
You will not fly without wearing a mask
Commercial airlines like Delta, United, American, Frontier, Southwest, and JetBlue will all require you to wear masks during your flight experience.
Masks will become a necessary travel companion like your phone, wallet, and keys.
These airlines have all laid out new safety requirements in response to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
The good news is they need not be medical-grade masks – but we might as well be covering our mouths and noses with something medical grade if it’s going to be a requirement.
American Airlines announced late last month that all passengers will be mandated to “wear a face covering (or mask) while on board the aircraft.”
United began the same implementation last week, proudly saying in a press release that they are the “first major US airline to require all flight attendants to wear masks on duty.” N95 masks will be available to symptomatic passengers.
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Surprisingly, JetBlue led the pack in face-covering procedures for passengers. They wrote in a statement, “This new policy will require customers to wear a face covering over their nose and mouth throughout their journey, including during check-in, boarding, while in flight and deplaning. Small children who are not able to maintain a face covering are exempt from this requirement.”
The future of flying is grim
It’s already difficult to breathe on an airplane because the air is so thin at 30,000-plus feet – now we’re supposed to cover our mouths and noses to make it even harder?
The Federal Aviation Administration has received pressure to require all airlines to mandate masks, although it is unclear if the FAA has the authority to impose such a requirement.
The agency said last week they are “working with air carriers to ensure they have processes in place for addressing public health risks for their crews and passengers.”
Look, it’s understandable for airlines to implement such policies because they’re ultimately held responsible for the safety of their passengers during their flight.
But we’re not exactly getting consistent information about whether masks are even helpful against the coronavirus either.
At first the World Health Organization (WHO) claimed wearing the masks was futile for anyone who was not sick, then we’re told wearing medical masks was necessary to prevent a further outbreak.
So how do the airlines know if the WHO doesn’t even know?
The response is a result of the mass hysteria perpetuated on social media. The rule of “it’s better to be safe than sorry” has officially taken on an extreme meaning.
We keep hearing that things will go back to normal soon, but the implementation of these mask rules would be a massive regression in the pursuit for normalcy.
There’s nothing “normal” about being forced to wear a mask when they’re not even proven to be largely effective yet.
