After more than two years of travelers being forced to follow strict mask guidelines on airplanes, some of those same constraints have now been lifted at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
For the first time since the start of the pandemic, some passengers could be seen without anything covering their faces for protection Tuesday.
Because a federal judge in Florida overturned a CDC mask extension Monday, wearing a mask became optional across the country.
Kristina Lynch is one of the people who liked it.
“I think it’s about time that they lifted that. I think it was silly that they kept it on for so long," Lynch said.
On Monday evening, the Minnesotan said she was visiting family in North Carolina when she found out that her departure from RDU would not be the same as her arrival.
“I was sitting at my sister-in-law’s house looking at the news waiting for them to lift it,” Lynch said. The mother said she turned to her husband and two children beside her on the couch. “I said, ’No more masks on airplanes’,” Lynch said.
The regional eastern Carolina airport shared the news on Facebook and Twitter shortly before 7 p.m. While masks aren't necessary, they are still recommended.
The news was received with mixed reviews. Some public health officials and politicians said ending masking puts others who ride public transit at risk. The next day after the ruling, many travelers continued to wear some form of facial covering.
Despite the progress made in country and statewide vaccination rates, subvariants of COVID-19 continue to evolve.
Public opinion aside, many embraced the end of the TSA enforcing each person to wear some form of personal protective equipment with a sense of freedom.
A spokesperson from the airport told Spectrum News 1 for travelers to disregard signs advising folks to continue wearing masks. RDU personnel will continue to remove signage plastered on glass doors near each terminal’s entrance.
One couple said they didn’t mind following public mandates based on science, but they were also happy to learn they can go without them.
Carleigh Smith said the change became news to her right as she and her husband Curtis hopped on the shuttle bus from in the RDU parking lot.
The Smiths said they have not flown together since they were married a year ago.
Like so many families since the onset of the pandemic, the couple could not wait to be airborne after their avoidance of flights due to the novel coronavirus.
“We like it. We’re glad we get to go. It’s one less thing to remember to pack,” Carleigh said.
While some passengers were comfortable lifting their masks, others chose to keep some type of face covering as they traveled.
Click here for more on traveling in North Carolina without mask mandates.
