Airport travelers won’t get far without masks
If you’re not masked, forget about using that boarding pass.
Starting Tuesday, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration will bar travelers who are not wearing face coverings from being screened at Pittsburgh International Airport and others in the country.
Travelers without face masks who approach the checkpoint will be asked to put one on. If they refuse, they will be turned away and could face possible civil penalties, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said Monday.
“If you can’t be screened, you can’t board your flight,” she noted.
The mask mandate is the result of an executive order issued last month by President Joe Biden that requires travelers to wear face masks while in airports and bus and rail stations and while on airplanes, buses or trains.
In the past if someone approached the airport security checkpoint without a mask, a TSA officer would ask that person to put one on. If the traveler refused, he or she still would be screened.
Not anymore.
“Now if you don’t comply with the request, TSA officers will not allow you in [the checkpoint],” Ms. Farbstein said.
In addition to being barred from the checkpoint — and by extension from boarding their flights — travelers who don’t comply could face possible civil penalties.
While many airports including Pittsburgh have issued their own mask mandates in the past, the TSA now will be the one with enforcement powers, Ms. Farbstein said.
The mask requirement applies to everyone age 2 or over. Exceptions include those who cannot safely wear a mask because of a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act or those for whom a mask would create a risk to workplace health, safety or job duty as defined by workplace safety guidelines or federal regulations.
Ms. Farbstein said the vast majority of air travelers have been complying with requests to wear masks.
“This is an effort to get those few who have not previously complied to voluntarily comply with the mask mandate,” she said.
The new rule gives the TSA authority over public transportation and rail travel as well. If someone who boards a bus or a train refuses to wear a mask, that person could face civil penalties if it is reported to the TSA, Ms. Farbstein said.
Pittsburgh International has been requiring those entering the airport to wear masks since May.
“Public health, safety and
security are always the top priority at Pittsburgh International Airport. Masks have been mandatory inside the terminal since May, and free masks are available to passengers at the landside terminal information desk as part of our Safe Travels program,” spokesman Bob Kerlik said.
“Passengers can find more information on our website at Flypittsburgh.com/safetravels. As part of new federal law, TSA will be enforcing the mask requirement. Travelers should visit TSA.gov with questions related to that enforcement.”
Ms. Farbstein said the executive order not only applies to travelers but also those who work at the airport, including the TSA itself.
As part of its efforts to combat COVID-19, the TSA also has installed new acrylic shields at Pittsburgh International’s two security checkpoints.
Areas that received the new barriers include those where travel documents are checked, where carryons are placed on belts for screening, and where bags are searched.
The goal is to stop the spread of the virus, including possible transmissions between travelers and TSA employees. It’s a serious matter for the agency.
Since the start of the pandemic, 6,368 TSA employees have tested positive for COVID-19 and 14 have died.
Currently, 615 workers are ill with the virus.
At Pittsburgh International, there have been 30 confirmed cases of COVID19 among TSA employees. Of those, 26 have involved screening officers. The last workday of the most recent case affecting a screening officer was Jan. 11.
The TSA believes many employees are contracting the virus outside of work, Ms. Farbstein said. The agency is urging workers to take the same precautions outside of work as they do on the job — to wear masks, practice social distancing, avoid crowds and wash their hands frequently, she said.