It’s not much to mask
Sec'y Pete: Keep it up for sake of air workers
Mask requirements on airplanes and other modes of transit remain in place because workers “don’t have a choice” about being there, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg argued Sunday — as air travel boomed over the Memorial Day weekend.
“Some of the differences have to do with the physical space, some of them have to do with it being a workplace where, in some of these transit and travel situations, people don’t have a choice,” Buttigieg told Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week,” after he was asked why vaccinated Americans can go mask-free in restaurants and gyms but not on airplanes.
Public-health officials said earlier this month that vaccinated Americans could go unmasked indoors — with some notable exceptions, including airplanes and public transit.
The Transportation Security Administration’s mask mandate is slated to be in effect until at least Sept. 13.
“Of course the decisions will continue to be on the part of public-health authorities and driven by public-health considerations,” Buttigieg added, “but just remember that the flight crews and other workers you encounter, they’re doing their job, they’re following regulations, and they’re there to keep you safe.”
“It is absolutely unacceptable to ever mistreat a transportation worker and, of course, there’s very serious fines and enforcement around that. “It’s a matter of safety, but it’s also a matter of respect.”
Buttigieg made the news-show rounds as Americans took to the skies in ever-growing numbers for the long weekend.
Friday and Saturday saw more than 3.5 million people pass through airport security, according to the TSA, compared with around 600,000 over the same two-day period last year.
Air travel is still at around 76 percent of the pre-pandemic level.