Can’t JetBlue please fly some must-mask planes?

Dear JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes, I’m writing with a simple request: Please create some mask-required flight options for travelers who want them. You may wonder why I’m singling your airline out for not mandating masks on any flights when, as the kids say, “everyone else is doing it.” In fact, I think all airlines — as well as trains, buses and subways — should create mask-mandatory travel options for passengers who want this. But I’m reaching out to you here because I’m a diehard New Yorker and a big fan of your company.

JetBlue is New York’s hometown airline, born just a few years before my older son. I remember the first time I saw a friend munching on blue chips; I asked, “Where did those cool snacks come from?” I’ve taken scores of family and work trips on JetBlue over the years. I like the fresh new aircraft and the more predictable pricing. I actually got sentimental at the company’s recent 20th anniversary.

So this isn’t a harangue from a critic; it’s helpful advice from a friend.

As you know, last month a federal judge in Florida struck down the Centers for Disease Control’s travel mask mandate, and plane flights became more dangerous as a result, particularly for immunocompromised people. Universal masking is much more effective at slowing COVID-19’s spread; while one-way masking with high-quality respirators helps, it just isn’t as protective.

The change has affected countless potential travelers. People of all ages have conditions creating higher risk for serious COVID-19 complications or death: cancer patients, transplant donors and recipients, people with diabetes, Crohn’s disease, asthma or more. Kids under 5 still can’t be vaccinated. Family members want to keep the loved ones they may be traveling to visit safe. And some travelers, even without underlying conditions, just want to minimize their chances of getting sick.

In my own case, I’ve been working hard this week to cheer up my heartbroken mom and stepdad. They were planning to fly north for an outdoor family wedding next month. After missing graduations and Thanksgivings, they were excited to celebrate something happy and see their children and grandkids in person, even though they planned to skip any indoor gatherings. Over the weekend, after much discussion, they sadly concluded that sitting enclosed in a plane alongside unmasked passengers during an active COVID surge would be too risky, given their health issues.

To make travel safer for them and so many others, JetBlue and its peers should create some mask-required options for travelers. This seems eminently feasible. For example, on June 14, when my mom and stepdad were planning to travel, JetBlue has a whopping 31 scheduled flights from South Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach) to the New York City metro area. Including JetBlue’s American Airlines codeshares, there’s a total of 56. If half or even a fourth of these flights required masks, there’d still be dozens of options for bare-faced flying.

National polls show that most people prefer masked travel, and in New York City, JetBlue’s home, support is likely even higher. There’s virtually no enforcement of the subway’s mask mandate, yet the majority of subway riders mask up.

Airlines, like other forms of transportation, have a legal obligation not to discriminate against people with disabilities. Accordingly, JetBlue has a detailed accessibility assistance webpage about its measures to provide access for people who need mobility assistance, use service animals, or have developmental disabilities. But because of optional masking and COVID-19, many people with disabilities must incur health risks significantly disproportionate to everyone else if they want to travel. It doesn’t provide sufficient access to give wheelchair assistance during boarding, but then subjects some of the very same people to avoidable inflight COVID-19 exposure that’s particularly dangerous to them.

Designating some flights on each route mask-required would be easy. There’d be no need to retrofit plane interiors. No passengers would have to don tactical flight suits or special scuba gear. It’d just be a return, for a few select flights, to the rules from two months ago, hardly a staggering burden. Plus, ample mask-optional choices should reduce the horrible outbursts of some passengers in relation to the prior mandate.

Offering some mask-required trips could actually be an economic boon: There’s likely great market demand for such options. By offering this choice, JetBlue could enjoy a competitive advantage and inspire customer loyalty. At the very least, a pilot program to test this approach could be explored. (Fellow passengers who agree can email JetBlue.)

So how about it, JetBlue? The squeaky wheels have spoken; how about taking care of the rest of us, and our families, and your fellow New Yorkers?

And maybe my mom and stepdad could go to that June family wedding after all.