Travelers wait to check in to a flight inside the international terminal at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in San Francisco, California, on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Fully vaccinated and planning to fly? You still need to wear a mask.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday said fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks indoors and don’t have to physically distance in that setting either.
But a federal rule that requires that all air, rail and bus travelers over the age of 2 is still in effect, the Transportation Security Administration said Thursday. They are also required in bus and rail stations as well as airports. That policy is set to expire Sept. 14.
Airlines began requiring masks about a year ago at the start of the pandemic and have banned hundreds of passengers who have failed to comply.
United Airlines said the carrier will lift its mask requirement when the federal government does. For now, it will “continue to abide by this mandate and remind our customers that masks must be worn on our planes and in our terminals while this requirement is in effect.”
It is not clear how airlines would verify passengers’ vaccination status, if at all, if CDC loosens guidance for air travel and other modes of transportation.
Flight attendant labor unions whose members were left to enforce airline policies urged the Biden administration for a mask mandate to help add more weight to the policy. That mandate took effect in February and was extended last month.
The Federal Aviation Administration in January implemented a “zero tolerance” policy for unruly travelers on board and fines of up to $35,000.
The FAA said it has received about 1,300 cases of unruly passengers from airlines since February and has so far found violations in about 260 of the cases.
The agency recommended a $32,750 fine for a JetBlue Airways passenger on a New York-bound Feb. 7 flight that returned to the Dominican Republic after a passenger allegedly failed to wear a face mask, threw food in the air, shouted at crew and struck a flight attendant’s arm.
It also called for a $16,500 fine for a traveler on a Jan. 26 Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago whom the FAA alleged refused to cover his nose and mouth, was asked to leave and allegedly hit a flight attendant with his bags.
