A judge in Florida has voided the federal mask mandate for those aboard planes and public transit, prompting major airlines to halt the requirement on domestic flights while most riders on trains and buses across the Chicago region will still need to don them — for now.
Masks are still required on CTA trains and buses, spokesman Brian Steele said after the ruling Monday. The transit agency follows Transportation Security Administration requirements for masks, and those requirements hadn’t yet changed, he said Monday afternoon. CTA will notify customers of any updates.
Riders on Metra must also still wear masks. The rail service isn’t changing the requirement “while we assess the situation,” spokesman Michael Gillis said.
Though Chicago and Illinois already lifted mask requirements, the federal mandate meant face coverings were still required in airports, planes, trains and other forms of public transit. Monday, a federal judge in Florida voided the mandate, ruling it exceeded the authority of U.S. health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Days earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had extended the mask mandate until May 3 to study the rise in the BA.2 omicron subvariant of the coronavirus that is now responsible for the vast majority of cases in the U.S.
The CEOs of major airlines in late March sent a letter to the White House urging President Joe Biden to lift the mask mandate and testing requirements for international travel. They said air filters on planes make it “one of the safest indoor environments” and that high-quality masks are available for those who want to wear them. They also cited the wide availability of vaccines and new therapeutics.
“It makes no sense that people are still required to wear masks on airplanes, yet are allowed to congregate in crowded restaurants, schools and at sporting events without masks, despite none of these venues having the protective air filtration system that aircraft do,” they said.
Chicago-based United Airlines said masks were no longer required on domestic flights, certain international flights — depending on the arrival country’s mask requirements — or at U.S. airports. The removal of the requirement was effective immediately, the airline said Monday evening.
“While this means that our employees are no longer required to wear a mask — and no longer have to enforce a mask requirement for most of the flying public — they will be able to wear masks if they choose to do so, as the CDC continues to strongly recommend wearing a mask on public transit,” the airline said in a statement.
American Airlines was also no longer requiring masks for employees and passengers at U.S. airports and on domestic flights, citing the TSA’s move to stop enforcing the federal mandate. Masks could still be required based on requirements in other countries or local ordinances, the carrier said, and customers and employees could choose to continue wearing masks.
Asked Monday about mask rules, the Chicago Department of Aviation, which oversees Midway and O’Hare International Airport, said the airports “will continue to follow, observe and enforce all current and future guidance by federal, state and local health and security authorities.” The agency did not provide additional clarification about whether mask use would be enforced.
The Associated Press contributed.