Bye Bye Mask Mandates! Maybe?

[Moby Dick]

Although there are still a lot of legal paths this could take:

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-judge-strikes-down-national-mask-mandate-on-airplanes-/6534572.html

[Moby Dick]

TSA not enforcing travel mask mandate after judge strikes it down

04/18/22 6:32 PM ET

https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/3272328-tsa-not-enforcing-travel-mask-mandate-after-judge-strikes-it-down/

Well, for now, it's toast.  

[Moby Dick]

I could be very wrong here.  But, I think that this judgement by the court in Florida is going to be allowed to quietly go unchallenged.  It will be May soon, when the mandate was scheduled to go away or renewed anyway.  So, why fight this unpopular mandate.  The judge can be blamed.  

[smokeybandit]

20 minutes ago, 1st Mate said:

I could be very wrong here.  But, I think that this judgement by the court in Florida is going to be allowed to quietly go unchallenged.  It will be May soon, when the mandate was scheduled to go away or renewed anyway.  So, why fight this unpopular mandate.  The judge can be blamed.  

The fact airlines are dropping enforcement so quickly maybe a clue that you're right. Imagine them all of a sudden having to start enforcing again in 24-72 hours

[Moby Dick]

7 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Imagine them all of a sudden having to start enforcing again in 24-72 hours

Now that would be hilariously tragic. 

[wordell1]

1 hour ago, 1st Mate said:

I could be very wrong here.  But, I think that this judgement by the court in Florida is going to be allowed to quietly go unchallenged.  It will be May soon, when the mandate was scheduled to go away or renewed anyway.  So, why fight this unpopular mandate.  The judge can be blamed.  

What has happened in previous cases is that the CDC will appeal but drop the order. The entire case will be set aside as moot because there is no longer an order in place. That way the government ends the order without agreeing that weren't allowed to make it in the first place.

[Moby Dick]

8 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

What has happened in previous cases is that the CDC will appeal but drop the order. The entire case will be set aside as moot because there is no longer an order in place. That way the government ends the order without agreeing that weren't allowed to make it in the first place.

Works for me, either way.  As long as the crap goes away!

Edited in:  Now, if we could get the coward airline exec's to play ball.  They've been vocal until the rubber meet the road.  We'll see!

BTW, United has already said they aren't going to remove their mandate.

[smokeybandit]

Southwest, Alaska, United and Delta have already dropped their mandates

[twangster]

Fly!  Be Free!

[Moby Dick]

17 minutes ago, 1st Mate said:

Works for me, either way.  As long as the crap goes away!

Edited in:  Now, if we could get the coward airline exec's to play ball.  They've been vocal until the rubber meet the road.  We'll see!

BTW, United has already said they aren't going to remove their mandate.

• https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/what-to-expect.html
•  
• Providing individual hand sanitizer wipes for customers
• Requiring all customers age 2 and older and employees to wear a face mask on board in accordance with Federal law
• Providing onboard items like pillows and blankets upon request
• Disinfecting high-touch areas, like tray tables and armrests, before boarding
• Reducing contact between flight attendants and customers during snack and beverage service
• Ensuring aircraft cleaning standards meet or exceed CDC guidelines
• Using state-of-the-art, hospital-grade, high-efficiency (HEPA) filters during the entire flight to circulate air and remove 99.97% of airborne particles
• Using Ultraviolet C (UVC) lighting wands to disinfect sensitive components like switches and touchscreen displays in our pilot flight decks
• Rolling out antimicrobial technology on all of our aircraft to add an additional layer of sanitization on board

[Moby Dick]

12 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Southwest, Alaska, United and Delta have already dropped their mandates

I hope you are right and my copy and past of UAL just hasn't been changed yet.  But, I know that at least one news outlet is reporting that United has not dropped it, yet.

[smokeybandit]

6 minutes ago, 1st Mate said:

I hope you are right and my copy and past of UAL just hasn't been changed yet.  But, I know that at least one news outlet is reporting that United has not dropped it, yet.

United initially said they weren't, but once TSA said they were no longer going to enforce it, United announced they're dropping theirs.

 

American Airlines just announced it too

[Moby Dick]

10 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

United initially said they weren't, but once TSA said they were no longer going to enforce it, United announced they're dropping theirs.

 

American Airlines just announced it too

Yep, after a little more "googling" (actually, duckduckgo) I found this:

https://skift.com/2022/04/18/united-alaska-first-u-s-airlines-to-drop-mask-mandates-after-judges-ruling/

I bet the dominos are starting to drop.  I'm so ready!  

 

[Moby Dick]

20 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

United initially said they weren't, but once TSA said they were no longer going to enforce it, United announced they're dropping theirs.

 

American Airlines just announced it too

I'm loving it!

[smokeybandit]

Jetblue and Frontier have entered the chat, too

[WAYNO]

And we've loved not being sick the last two years.

[Carlos A.]

I respect the aversion some people have about mask mandates. I will continue using it in closed spaces, it doesn't hurt anyone and works for me. 

[dodgestang]

Ft Lauderdale International and American Airlines were all masked up today making our flight home just that little bit worse.

[DunkelBierJay]

I hope that this leads to allowing crew who want to do so to remove their masks on board.

[Moby Dick]

2 hours ago, carlosalonsor said:

I respect the aversion some people have about mask mandates. I will continue using it in closed spaces, it doesn't hurt anyone and works for me. 

True true true.  You do what's a best fit for you.  

[Moby Dick]

2 hours ago, dodgestang said:

Ft Lauderdale International and American Airlines were all masked up today making our flight home just that little bit worse.

Just think, next time, maybe not!

[Moby Dick]

46 minutes ago, DunkelBierJay said:

I hope that this leads to allowing crew who want to do so to remove their masks on board.

Yep, I like to read faces.  As a guy that loves humor, I like to see how people react to my humor which can be very dry at times.  

[Pattycruise]

1 hour ago, DunkelBierJay said:

I hope that this leads to allowing crew who want to do so to remove their masks on board.

Cousin got off of Anthem this past Sunday and said part way through the week crew put on n95 under their normal mask.  This is a step backwards for crew.  I was on the ship for 2 weeks prior to this cousin and the first week observed the “quarantine meals” for deck 3 going through the deck 3 dining room through the corridor door.  That same sailing numerous people reported testing positive post  cruise (no, I do not believe it was related)  .  My second week a lot of people reported testing positive post cruise.  My cousins cruise this past week, she reported 75 families quarantined onboard.  I’m not sure how accurate that number is.  Bottom line, I don’t see Royal  unmasking their crew anytime soon. That’s just my opinion though. 

[DunkelBierJay]

7 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

Cousin got off of Anthem this past Sunday and said part way through the week crew put on n95 under their normal mask.  This is a step backwards for crew.  I was on the ship for 2 weeks prior to this cousin and the first week observed the “quarantine meals” for deck 3 going through the deck 3 dining room through the corridor door.  That same sailing numerous people reported testing positive post  cruise (no, I do not believe it was related)  .  My second week a lot of people reported testing positive post cruise.  My cousins cruise this past week, she reported 75 families quarantined onboard.  I’m not sure how accurate that number is.  Bottom line, I don’t see Royal  unmasking their crew anytime soon. That’s just my opinion though. 

Makes sense...Anthem is Orange on the CDC tracking meaning they are under investigation until case load goes below 1% of the crew or 0.3% of total passengers. https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html

[KJ777]

I'm wondering if this means that masks are no longer needed at the port terminal when getting ready to board...

[smokeybandit]

20 minutes ago, RDU said:

I'm wondering if this means that masks are no longer needed at the port terminal when getting ready to board...

That's what it should mean, yes.

[twangster]

Port terminals are operated by private companies and/or local governments.  

What one can hope is that no new mask mandates will be introduced by the entity that operates the cruise port (or local airport for that matter).  Some airport authorities have already indicated they intend to require masks but that was a knee jerk reaction yesterday.  Hopefully they've had time to reflect on that decision.

I'm going to assume Florida based cruise terminals won't be ones that rush to add a mask mandate.  Cruise ports in other states may require some time to see what they do.   

[twangster]

[Moby Dick]

44 minutes ago, RDU said:

I'm wondering if this means that masks are no longer needed at the port terminal when getting ready to board...

I believe it does, it says all public transportation and I believe that terminals are part of the transportation system and they are included in the order that the judge ruled against.  

[WAAAYTOOO]

24 minutes ago, twangster said:

HOORAH !

[Moby Dick]

25 minutes ago, 1st Mate said:

I believe it does, it says all public transportation and I believe that terminals are part of the transportation system and they are included in the order that the judge ruled against.  

I can see it coming, so let me clarify:  The judge ruled against the Federal Government's over reactive order for masks.  That judgement only applies to the Federal rule.  Terminals are generally local government entities and some are private.  They usually use the Federal Government's rule to justify the mask mandate within their facilities.  They can no longer do that.  They only have themselves to blame if they continue to require masks within their facilities.  BTW, Airlines are private businesses also.  They can no longer use the Federal Government's rule to justify the requirement to mask-up and can't use federal resources to enforce masking rules.  

ALSO, if a local government (City, County, State) totally used the Federal Government's rule/law and had no rule/law of their own to justify arrests, they now have no legal bases (some do, however) to mandate masks, they will have to come up with their own law if they want to continue to require masking-up.  

[Carlos A.]

10 hours ago, 1st Mate said:

True true true.  You do what's a best fit for you.  

As an epidemiologist, I can tell you that I am not only thinking about my own health and protection, but about the people around me. 

So, as you say, you do what you want to do and I'll continue doing what I want to do. By the way, you shouldn't be condescending to those who have different opinions than you.

[dodgestang]

10 hours ago, 1st Mate said:

Just think, next time, maybe not!

Yeah....well....literally....AFTER this ruling was handed down the little tiny dictators were coming on the bus and yelling at all the cruisers they need their masks, threatening to kick people of the plane......so it still going to be a long road ahead restoring freedoms.

[Moby Dick]

13 minutes ago, carlosalonsor said:

As an epidemiologist, I can tell you that I am not only thinking about my own health and protection, but about the people around me. 

So, as you say, you do what you want to do and I'll continue doing what I want to do. By the way, you shouldn't be condescending to those who have different opinions than you.

I don't know if you noticed, I emojied YES on your post.  I was trying to say, I said that you do you, not condescending, I was respecting YOUR decision.  A little thicker skin wouldn't hurt.  

[dodgestang]

17 minutes ago, 1st Mate said:

I can see it coming, so let me clarify:  The judge ruled against the Federal Government's over reactive order for masks.  That judgement only applies to the Federal rule.  Terminals are generally local government entities and some are private.  They usually use the Federal Government's rule to justify the mask mandate within their facilities.  They can no longer do that.  They only have themselves to blame if they continue to require masks within their facilities.  BTW, Airlines are private businesses also.  They can no longer use the Federal Government's rule to justify the requirement to mask-up and can't use federal resources to enforce masking rules.  

ALSO, if a local government (City, County, State) totally used the Federal Government's rule/law and had no rule/law of their own to justify arrests, they now have no legal bases (some do, however) to mandate masks, they will have to come up with their own law if they want to continue to require masking-up.  

Yeah...I agree.  They blare messages all day long "According to federal mandate you must....." but now that federal mandate isn't there.....some will go "according to local regulation...." ;).  So which is it bub....and since they don't actually spend their own money....they will be willing to take it to court and fight in many places until a judge says knock it off.

[Bowen]

Awesome news! And as to the person saying OP should basically be kinder to those who want to mask, they were kind, exceedingly so. Wear a mask if you want to. Those of us who have been against violating people's rights for two years (because 0.0% of these mandates have ever been voted on) have had to develop very thick skin. We don't get to make posts like this, we don't get to point out basic science that's been proven time and again over the last decade, we get to remain silent or get cancelled. So, our skin is thick. And yet we're still absolutely happy to let you wear a mask, it's your right, remember that, remember that we're not the ones trying to force things on you. Try to be kind enough to do the same.

[DunkelBierJay]

I would bet Matt is working on getting the information about terminal requirements with confirmation from all the parties. There are probably several sources he has to check. I tried googling it for cruise terminals and nothing came up yet.

[Moby Dick]

12 minutes ago, DunkelBierJay said:

I would bet Matt is working on getting the information about terminal requirements with confirmation from all the parties. There are probably several sources he has to check. I tried googling it for cruise terminals and nothing came up yet.

I've been going from local news sources to local news sources to find anything definitive.  Some do, some don't, yet.  I can just say that the dominos are falling!  I'm so happy!

[Moby Dick]

A moment away from the euphoria.  If the powers that be/aristocracy decides to appeal this ruling and can find one higher up judge that is willing to overturn the overturn, we are back to square one.  So, hang on, we could be in for a bumpy ride.  I really doubt, however, they will seriously appeal the Florida Judge's ruling. 

[Matt]

2 hours ago, DunkelBierJay said:

I would bet Matt is working on getting the information about terminal requirements with confirmation from all the parties. There are probably several sources he has to check. I tried googling it for cruise terminals and nothing came up yet.

You are correct. I've reached out to some of the ports for an update, and it appears we are waiting for the Coast Guard to update their directives.

I'll post if/when there's an update.

At the end of the day,  I don't want to jump the gun and assume anything until it's official.