A federal judge in Florida Monday struck down a national mask mandate on public transit, including on airplanes, in airports and on trains. The ruling left it up to individual companies and cities to decide whether to require masks.
Shortly after the ruling came out, the TSA announced it would no longer enforce mask mandates in airports. Several major airlines immediately dropped their requirements for passengers to wear masks on planes.
The court ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not have the authority to issue the nationwide mask mandate.
As of late Monday, the Justice Department had not said if it will appeal the decision, according to the Associated Press. An appeal could potentially reverse the trial judge’s decision.
North Carolina’s two biggest airports, Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Raleigh-Durham International Airport, dropped their mask mandates late Monday. Both said masks were still recommended.
Other airports in North Carolina, including in Wilmington, Asheville and Greensboro, also dropped their indoor mask mandates.
Every major airline in the United States announced they were immediately dropping requirements for passengers to wear masks, including Delta, United, American, Southwest and JetBlue.
“Effective immediately, masks are optional for all airport employees, crew members and customers inside U.S. airports and on board all aircraft domestically, as well as on most international flights,” Delta said.
“Given the unexpected nature of this announcement, please be aware that customers, airline employees and federal agency employees, such as TSA, may be receiving this information at different times. You may experience inconsistent enforcement during the next 24 hours as this news is more broadly communicated,” according to a release from Delta.
Following Monday’s ruling, Amtrak dropped its mask mandate. That includes the lines that serve North Carolina.
“While Amtrak passengers and employees are no longer required to wear masks while on board trains or in stations, masks are welcome and remain an important preventive measure against COVID-19. Anyone needing or choosing to wear one is encouraged to do so,” Amtrak said.
Uber and Lyft have both dropped mask rules for passengers and drivers.
“You can now ride without a mask and use the front seat if you need to. While mask usage is still recommended, we’ve updated our Covid Safety policies,” Uber said Tuesday morning.
The CDC rule overturned by the court applied to city public transit and school buses. It will now be up to each city and school district to decide on their own mask rules.
On Tuesday morning, the Charlotte Area Transit System announced it would no longer require masks on CATS buses and trains. Other transit systems in North Carolina will likely make announcements soon on whether they are dropping mask mandates on buses.
For school buses, that decision will be up to local school districts. When dropping classroom mask mandates, school boards in North Carolina said students and staff had to continue wearing masks on buses because of the CDC rule that was just overturned by the court.
The ruling now allows school boards to drop mask mandates for students riding the bus.