U.S. stops enforcing mask rules on planes after judge’s ruling

U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa, Florida, vacated the mask requirement nationwide and directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reverse the policy put in place in February 2021. The ruling was handed down in a lawsuit filed last year by the Health Freedom Defense Fund, a nonprofit group that says it focuses on “bodily autonomy” as a human right.

“Today’s court decision means CDC’s public transportation masking order is not in effect at this time,” an administration official said in a statement. “Therefore, TSA will not enforce its Security Directives and Emergency Amendment requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called the judge’s ruling “a disappointing decision” and said “we’re continuing to recommend that people wear masks” while the administration considers its legal options.

Prior to the TSA decision, some pilots had said they were worried about the confusion being created by conflicting rules.

“We’re the kids looking at the two parents saying two different things,” said Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines Group Inc. pilots. “We know it makes it very difficult. Our passengers are probably as confused as we are.”

It’s also not clear what impact the judge’s ruling might have on state and local regulations that are based on CDC guidance.

Airlines for America, the lobbying group for the biggest U.S. carriers, and the Justice Department didn’t immediately comment on the ruling. The CDC said it doesn’t comment on litigation.

Mizelle, an appointee of former president Donald Trump, ruled that the CDC had incorrectly described the mask mandate as a form of “sanitation” to justify its authority in the matter.

“Wearing a mask cleans nothing,” Mizelle wrote. “At most, it traps virus droplets. But it neither ‘sanitizes’ the person wearing the mask or ‘sanitizes’ the conveyance.”

The judge also found that the CDC had gone too far by issuing a regulation that “acts on individuals directly” rather than just their “property interests.”

“Since the mask mandate regulates an individual’s behavior — wearing a mask — it imposes directly on liberty interests,” she wrote.

Airlines’ Position

The ruling comes as states across the U.S. have eased restrictions following an overall drop in case numbers from a January peak caused by the omicron variant of the coronavirus. Almost 1 million Americans have died of Covid in the past two years, and hundreds more continue to die every day.

“I feel very strongly the mask mandate should be lifted and individuals, including our own employees, make their own decisions and take personal accountability for their health on board our planes,” Delta Air Lines Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said in a CNBC interview April 13. “Candidly, it’s time to let the masks go.”

CEOs from the largest U.S. airlines said in a letter to President Joe Biden last month that it was “past time” to lift the mandate.

“We are requesting this action not only for the benefit of the traveling public, but also for the thousands of airline employees charged with enforcing a patchwork of now-outdated regulations implemented in response to Covid-19,” the group of 10 CEOs said in the March 23 letter.

Disruptive Passengers

The mask requirement has has been particularly contentious because it has been linked to a surge in the number of disruptive passengers on flights. At the same time, it has eased fears of infection and helped the airlines bounce back after travel was decimated in the early days of the pandemic.

The CDC announced last week that it would extend the mask mandate by two weeks, to May 3, as it weighs data on Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations driven by the BA.2 subvariant. The extension is shorter than previous ones, signaling that the agency was nearing a position to lift the mandate altogether.

Florida and other Republican-led states in March filed a similar lawsuit seeking to overturn the mask mandate, a fight that pits Biden against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a fierce critic of pandemic mandates. The states accused the administration of ignoring “loss after loss” in court and having “outright disdain” for the limits of its power.

Great to see a federal judge in Florida follow the law and reject the Biden transportation mask mandate. Both airline employees and passengers deserve to have this misery end.— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 18, 2022

The Health Freedom Defense Fund, which filed the suit in April 2021, was founded by former Wall Street banker Leslie Manookian, described on the group’s website as a onetime Goldman Sachs Group Inc. employee who went on to become director of Alliance Capital in London. 

Judge’s Qualifications

Mizelle, formerly an attorney with Jones Day, was the eighth federal judge confirmed during the Trump administration to be rated “not qualified” by the American Bar Association based on experience. 

The ABA typically requires a minimum of 12 years of experience to rate a nominee qualified. Mizelle was admitted to the Florida bar in September 2012. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate 49-41 in November 2020.

Republicans have accused the ABA of being biased against conservatives.