Passengers on U.S. airlines and public transit will get their first chance in more than a year to travel without a mask next week, if the federal government sticks to its current plan to let a pandemic-era mandate expire.
President Joe Biden is being urged by transportation groups and state and local officials to allow the mask rule to end, after extending it for a month through April 18 as the omicron variant added to the nation’s COVID case count. In recent weeks, cases have started to tick up and some local governments, like in Philadelphia, reimposed indoor mask wearing.
White House and Transportation Security Administration officials are talking with their counterparts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on whether to revise or extend the mask rule. The decision will have implications for the nation’s economy, health-care system and millions of daily commuters.
