San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Under Biden, more masks at airports
At some airports, you still don’t have to wear a face mask — as crazy as that seems.
We’re eight months into the pandemic, and the scientific consensus is that masks slow the spread of COVID-19.
President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to implement federal mask requirements at airports and on planes, saying Oct. 23 in a speech in Delaware: “Wearing masks is not a political statement — it’s a scientific imperative.”
Biden’s plan is a welcome reversal of the Trump administration’s refusal to issue uniform rules and take a strong stand in favor of wearing masks.
Travelers may wonder what the fuss is about since all airlines in the U.S. require passengers to wear masks, as do most airports. Still, there are no federal rules requiring masks, leading to gaps in containment efforts. You’ll find a big one at the Atlanta airport.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest airport, can’t enforce a mask requirement.
The airport has more arrivals and departures each day than any other, creating crowded terminals even now, when many people are avoiding flying.
Masks are — or should be — particularly important at the Atlanta airport because of the difficulty of social distancing.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, issued a mask requirement July 7. But Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a
Republican, opposed the mandatory orders and sued.
Kemp dropped the lawsuit in August but then signed an executive order that said local governments could not force businesses to require people to wear masks.
The governor’s edict applies to the city-owned airport.
“We can’t enforce the mask order,” said Alnissa Ruiz-Craig, a spokeswoman for HartsfieldJackson.
On recent visits, I noticed that mask-wearing was fairly lax at the Atlanta airport. Of course, that’s compared with other major airports that have mask mandates, such as Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Denver International Airport.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that masks protect not only other people but also the wearer.
It’s ironic that airlines can bar maskless passengers from flying, but the world’s largest airport can’t.
Delta Airlines has its biggest connecting travel hub at the Atlanta airport, and it requires passengers to wear masks at the ticket counter and boarding area.
Yet maskless travelers can roam the airport’s miles of corridors and pick up their luggage at the baggage claim area.
The Atlanta airport’s mask loophole is a rarity among large airports, though there is no comprehensive list of which airports require masks.
Republican governors in
North Dakota, Utah and Iowa recently imposed mask orders in their states as COVID-19 continues to spread, even though they previously opposed a mandate.
However, some airports in red, rural states still refuse to issue mask rules.
At the Sioux Falls Regional Airport, the largest airport in South Dakota, mask-wearing is recommended but not required, according to the airport’s website.
Sioux Falls isn’t some small town. Its population of 182,000 makes it the largest city in South Dakota. Minnehaha County, home to Sioux Falls, adds another 10,000 to the total population.
The county also has the highest rate of coronavirus cases in the state, with nearly 17,500 as of last week, according to the South Dakota Department of Health.
Overall, South Dakota has one of the highest rates of coronavirus cases in the U.S.
Despite this, mask-wearing is apparently a touchy issue in Sioux Falls.
On Nov. 10, its city council deadlocked on mandatory maskwearing by a 4-4 vote. The mayor then cast the deciding vote against the ordinance.
However, the order would not have affected the airport, which is run by a separate authority.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, is an opponent of mask orders, saying residents should have the freedom to choose.
Last month, the CDC issued a “strong recommendation” that all passengers and employees wear masks at airports and train stations, and on airplanes, trains, subways, buses, taxis and ride-hail vehicles.
But also in October, the U.S. Department of Transportation rejected a petition from a consumer group that sought a mask mandate at airports and for U.S. airlines, saying the DOT believes “there should be no more regulations than necessary.”
The DOT said federal regulators
have already advocated wearing masks at airports and on planes, which is “sufficient to meet responsibilities to ensure safe air travel.”
The inconsistent rules create a broken system that does nothing to protect travelers’ health.
Mandatory mask-wearing obviously is not just an issue at airports and on planes.
Biden is already receiving pushback from some Republican governors for his desire to implement a national mask mandate. His advisers have reportedly concluded he won’t have the power to force states to impose mask orders.
But since airplanes usually cross state lines, Biden aides say he would have the authority to impose mask regulations at airports and on airplanes.
Restoring passengers’ confidence that they won’t catch COVID-19 at the airport would go a long way in encouraging travel and helping the economy. That would be something both Democrats and Republicans could agree on.