The ruling on Monday led US carriers including Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. to drop their face-covering requirements on domestic flights, and on international flights where local regulations don’t require passengers to wear them.
The ruling surprised airlines and has alternatively delighted and frustrated passengers. It has also split European carriers regarding what they should require on trans-Atlantic flights. Spokespersons for Air France and Deutsche Lufthansa AG said masks were still required on board all their flights, in line with French and German regulations.
British Airways, owned by International Consolidated Airlines Group SA and Dutch flag carrier KLM—which operates in a partnership alongside Air France—told customers that the requirement to wear masks onboard was dependent on restrictions in the arrival destination. KLM told passengers that it still “strongly advises all passengers" to wear a face mask on board.
Many European countries have already dropped the mask requirement. The UK was among the first countries globally to drop all Covid-19 travel rules, including requiring the use of face coverings on board flights and in airport terminals. Sweden has also dropped its Covid-19 travel restrictions. Scandinavian airline SAS AB has been sending texts to passengers reminding them that masks are no longer required on most flights.
Videos circulated online late Monday of passengers in the U.S. cheering after being told by flight crew that a mask—obligatory for most air travel for the better part of the last two years—was no longer required.
Not everyone was excited about the shift. Heidi Goodson, an assistant professor of mathematics at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, said she switched her return flight from Germany via United to one operated by Lufthansa so that she could fly on an airline that still required masks. She had to pay extra to make the change.
“Lots of people don’t have this sort of financial flexibility and so they have to risk their health when unexpected policy changes are made," she said.
