Given the presence of the highly transmissible delta variant, face masks are now a staple on airplanes and other modes of transportation. This week, Finnair announced that they are now banning the use of fabric face masks. In their statement, “The safety of our customers and employees is our first priority. Fabric masks are slightly less efficient at protecting people from infection than surgical masks”.
Other airlines are having the same policy as Finnair. Air France and Lufthansa are having a similar approach banning fabric masks and those with valves.
Latam Airlines also banned the use of fabric masks for their domestic flights in Chile. The airline only allows three-layer surgical masks, KN95, and N95 masks.
As for US airlines, fabric masks are generally allowed. However, several domestic carriers also banned face coverings that have exhaust valves.
Delta Air Lines doesn’t allow scarves, masks that come with exhaust valves, slits, punctures, or holes. As for United Airlines, the airline has a more lenient policy only prohibiting bandanas and face shields without a face mask.
Southwest Airlines prohibits the use of single-layer masks, scarves, ski masks, and balaclavas. American Airlines, on the other hand, doesn’t allow balaclavas, bandanas, scarves, and gaiters. Similarly, Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t allow balaclavas and bandanas. And lastly, JetBlue doesn’t allow passengers to use masks that have tubes or battery-operated filters.
The Transport Security Administration extended the federal transport mask mandate until January next year. The mask mandate was originally scheduled to end on September 13. This means that people using public transportation should still be wearing masks.
Mask-wearing has become a source of friction in the airline industry. Most cases of unruly passengers onboard were individuals who refused to wear their masks properly. Some passengers even became violent towards crew members.
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