ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) – A federal judge in Florida overturned a national mandate for a mask covering airlines and other public transportation on Monday, and the Biden administration said the rule would not be enforced until federal agencies decided how to respond to the judge’s order. .
The decision appears to be freeing operators to make their own decisions on mask requirements, with several airlines announcing they will resign, but New York’s public transportation system plans to keep it.
The Stewardess Association, the country’s largest union of cabin crews, recently took a neutral position on the mask rule, as its members are divided on the issue. On Monday, the union president called for calm on planes and airports.
“The last thing we need for frontline workers or passengers traveling today is confusion and chaos,” said union leader Sarah Nelson.
Nelson said airlines need 24 to 48 hours to introduce new procedures and tell employees about them. She said passengers should consult with airlines for updates on travel requirements.
The decision of US District Judge Catherine Kimball Misel in Tampa, appointed to former President Donald Trump, also says that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention failed to justify its decision and did not follow proper procedures to create rules that left fatally insufficient.
In his 59-page ruling, Misel said the only remedy was to repeal the rule altogether across the country, because it would be impossible to end it for a limited group of people who objected to the case.
The judge said that “a limited remedy would not be a remedy at all” and the courts have full power to make a decision like this – even if the CDC’s anti-virus goals are commendable.
The Ministry of Justice declined to comment on whether it would request an emergency stop to block the judge’s order. The CDC also declined to comment.
The White House said the court’s decision meant that the mask order was “currently not in force”.
“This is obviously a disappointing decision,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. “The CDC recommends wearing a mask on public transport.”
The CDC recently extended the mask’s mandate, which was due to expire on Monday, until May 3 to allow more time to study the BA.2 omicron subvariant of the coronavirus, which is now responsible for the vast majority of cases in the United States.
In New York, Tim Transportation Director Tim Minton, communications director, said the system “continues to follow CDC guidelines and will review the Florida court order.”
The MTA operates New York City’s subway buses and trains, as well as two railroads. Face covers are mandatory on all trains and buses since the beginning of the pandemic.
United Airlines said in a statement that masks would no longer be required for domestic or certain international flights, with immediate effect.
“Although this means that our staff are no longer required to wear a mask – and no longer have to impose a mask requirement on most flyers – they will be able to wear masks if they choose to do so, as the CDC continues. “I strongly recommend wearing a mask on public transport,” United said.
Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines also made similar announcements.
The federal requirement for a passenger mask was the goal of months of lobbying by airlines trying to kill him. Carriers claim that the effective air filters of modern aircraft make the transmission of the virus in flight very unlikely. Republicans in Congress also fought to kill the mandate.
Critics took advantage of the fact that the states repealed rules requiring masks in restaurants, shops and other indoor venues, and yet COVID-19 cases fell sharply after the Omicron variant peaked in mid-January.
There have been a series of violent incidents on airplanes, mainly due to disputes over the requirements for wearing masks.
The lawsuit was filed in July 2021 by two plaintiffs and the Fund for the Protection of Freedom of Health, described in the judge’s order as a non-profit group that “opposes laws and regulations that force people to provide medical products, procedures and devices against their will ”
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was not directly involved in the case but is fighting against many government requirements for the coronavirus, praised the decision in a statement on Twitter.
“It’s great to see a federal judge in Florida obey the law and reject Biden’s mandate for a transport mask. “Both airline employees and passengers deserve this end of misery,” DeSantis wrote on Twitter.
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Associated Press writers David Koenig of Dallas, Michael Balsamo and Will Weisert of Washington, and Karen Matthews of New York contributed to this story.
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