The CEO’s of two major US airlines caught a bit of flack after statements made to Congress about the effectiveness of face masks on planes. One is already backtracking after issuing a revised statement clarifying his comments.
The heads of several major US airlines stood before Congress earlier this week answering questions about financial aid they received during the hardest parts of the pandemic in both 2020 and 2021. The wide-ranging questions touched on several subjects, but one topic caused a bit of titter when the leaders of two airlines offered a controversial opinion on face masks.
CEO’s Gary Kelly and Doug Parker, of Southwest Airlines and American Airlines respectively, both caused a stir when responding to Senator Roger Wicker’s (R-MS) question about face masks.
Kelly’s response offered this view, “I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add very much, if anything, in the air cabin environment,’ Kelly said. ‘It is very safe and very high quality compared to any other indoor setting.”
Parker replied, “I concur” then further offered a view that the airplane is the safest place you can be right now.
Face masks have been mandated on all commercial flights since early in the pandemic and remain a consistent source of frustration for many travelers. Often, refusal to wear a face mask or wear one correctly plays a part in the recent increase of in-flight altercations. These altercations have spiked during the pandemic with many resulting in violence.
As is well known, Airplanes have some of the best air filtration systems around offering a demonstrably cleaner environment, thus reducing the likelihood of transmission of the COVID-19 virus.
The CEO’s comments were met with derision from another Senator on the committee, when Senator Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, suggested it was immoral for CEOs to even suggest masks shouldn’t need to be worn on planes anymore.
He stated, “I’m shocked that some of the CEOs here today have suggested we no longer need mask mandates on planes. In the face of Omicron, children under five who still cannot be vaccinated… and that we still allow unvaccinated people on planes.”
Parker, for his part, subsequently issued a statement walking back his comments. We’ve shared it below.
For its part, the Flight Attendant Union, led by Sara Nelson, offered a different view during her testimony as reported by CNN. “Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants, testified at the hearing that not all aircraft are equipped with the same quality of air filters. For example, some older planes do not have HEPA filters,” Nelson noted.
The federal mask mandate remains in effect through March of 2022, regardless of the professional opinions of Parker or Kelly.
2 comments
You are being strung along. Eventually the government will decide that Americans are ready to be told what they have planned all along: Masks on planes are NEVER going away.
They have calculated that you are not ready yet but that your resistance will weaken before June of 2022, and you’ll be told that the mask mandate is forever.
There is plenty of research on how to break the will of people based on time frames and incremental tightening of restrictions before finally making the bad news permanent. They are fully aware of these studies and by June of 2022, they will consider those who fly regularly ready to accept this restrictions. Mark my words – that is what the are doing.
Masks are never going away and the government already knows this. They decided it more than a year ago. The pushing back of the lifting of the mandate has nothing to do with any variants/new cases. It is part of the plan to ‘boil the frog’ in this case.
American airlines seems to be out of control with some of there flight attendents. They seem power hungry. There are problems with passengers that are out of control but a flight attendent that slaps the phone out of someone’s hand, needs to be fired. They are supposed to be in control of their actions. If the flight attendant is over worked then ho home before you make an idiot of yourself.
If she doesn’t get fired it will further my support of why we never fly American airlines unless there is no other choice.
The last time we flew American airlines tjis was what happened:
I am disabled and need wheelchair when I get off the plane to take me to the baggage pickup and so on. There was not one there when we landed. The FA said since I walked to the bathroom which was 6 or 7 feet away; the FA said it appears that I can walk so maybe I should get some exercise and walk to baggage. That was the last time we flew American
airlines. The rudeness and power control is just that “out of control “.