U.S. Airline CEOs Support Dropping Mask Mandates on Planes
Photo Credit: Senators grilled airline executives about mask mandates and vaccine requirements during a hearing about the federal Payroll Support Program Wikimedia / Scrumshus
Skift Take
That got ugly quick. A lovefest between U.S. senators and airline executives on the success of the federal Payroll Support Program quickly devolved into a shouting match over vaccine and mask mandates.
U.S. airline CEOs on Wednesday agreed that federal mask mandates were no longer needed during a contentious Senate hearing that veered off its mission of evaluating federal payroll support for the industry.
"The case is very strong that masks don't add much in the air cabin environment," Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told lawmakers during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing. "I concur," American Airlines CEO Doug Parker added.
Instead, the witnesses, which in addition to Kelly and Parker included United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Delta Air Lines commercial chief John Laughter, touted the advanced ventilation systems on modern aircraft, which change the cabin air as many as 30 times per hour. Aircraft cabins, in fact, refresh cabin air more often than hospital intensive care units, Kirby added. Cabin air is safer, in terms of Covid-19 transmission, than any other indoor venue, because not only is it refreshed but it is more thor
