Aviation industry left in disarray after US judge overthrows Biden’s mask mandate on planes and trains
The US aviation industry was left in disarray after a US federal judge overthrew President Biden’s mask mandate on public transportation, creating confusion among passengers and operators.
The ruling, which was made yesterday by Florida judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, gives public transport operators the power to keep masks on or scrap them entirely forcing travellers to adopt different measures on different modes of transport in different cities.
Passengers flying from Texas to New York’s JFK airport, the Press Association reported today, could remove their masks at the departing airport and aboard the plane, but would need to wear them while travelling through the airport or on the underground.
The decision has already sparked a lot of debate, with some people rejoicing while others highlighting the risks travelling without face masks could bring.
One Twitter user call it a “wonderful moment mid flight”, while other another said they would continue wearing it as “wishing a pandemic to be over will not make it go away!”
According to judge Mizelle, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) could no longer justify the decision to require passengers to wear face coverings.
The CDC, who had initially extended the mandate from 18 April to 3 May, was also accused of not following proper rule making.