Transportation firms face mask-rule challenges
Ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft are requiring drivers and passengers to wear masks while using their services, joining a growing list of transportation companies hoping to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 as some cities emerge from lockdown.
All major U.S. airlines have already rolled out requirements for passengers and crew to wear face coverings in response to concerns over contagion, particularly in small or confined spaces that present higher risks of infection than well-ventilated or outdoor settings.
But the rules are only effective if people are willing to follow them and if the companies ferrying passengers are serious about enforcement.
Pilots worry that travelers could remove their masks and spark a confrontation with others during a flight. They are pressing the Federal Aviation Administration to require masks instead of leaving it up to individual airlines.
“I can’t imagine the stir on the airplane if someone takes off their mask,” said Dennis Tajer, a 737 pilot and spokesman for the pilots’ union at American Airlines. “It puts the flight crew in a precarious position.”
In ride-hailing vehicles, Uber will make drivers upload a mask-wearing selfie into the app before they can pick up a passenger, the company said. Riders also will be required to wear a mask, but they won’t have to provide proof. Either the rider or driver can cancel a ride if the other doesn’t wear a mask, and repeat violators can be kicked off the platform.
Lyft is providing one reusable cloth mask to each driver and has been distributing hand sanitizer. Uber has distributed disposable masks or cleaning supplies to about 400,000 drivers globally, distributing packs of five or 10 masks and encouraging drivers to use one per day, said Sachin Kansal, Uber’s head of safety products.
Jerome Gage, who drives for Lyft in Los Angeles, says what Uber and Lyft are providing is not nearly enough to keep everyone safe.
“If we were to just rely on what Uber and Lyft provided to us, our cars would be like a cesspool for this disease,” Gage said.
On airplanes, enforcement appears to be spotty at best. American Airlines has told pilots that gate agents may deny passengers from boarding if they aren’t wearing a mask but it doesn’t expect crews to continue policing in the air.
“Once on board and off the gate, the face covering policy will become more lenient,” according to an American Airlines memo to pilots. “The flight attendant’s role is informational, not enforcement, with respect to the face covering policy.”
An official with another airline described a similar policy. “We don’t want our crews to be police,” that person said. Instead, crews will report uncooperative passengers to the airline’s security office when the flight is over.
Even with enforcement, the effectiveness of masks is questionable, especially on planes when passengers remove them for snacks and drinks, touch their faces and spread germs. And in general, many people are donning masks incorrectly, in ways that could increase risks, experts said.