Masks Be Gone!

It's official. On this day, April 19, 2022, airlines have officially ended their mandatory masking on all commercial and international flights. TSA is also no longer enforcing any masking inside the airports. This all comes a day after a Federal Judge vacated the CDC's mask mandate and declared it unenforceable.

Pics and videos surfaced immediately, after the ruling, of people on planes celebrating and ripping their masks off their face. Nothing in our Country became more politicized and polarized than the wearing of masks. And they added unneeded tension in airports and on planes during an already tumultuous time in our world's history.

Flight attendants had become mask police. And unclear, non-scientific standards were being used which added to the tension. You had to have it over your mouth and nose...unless you were "actively" eating and drinking. 2 year olds had to wear them even though science was saying small children were not at risk. Parent's were being forced off of flights because their young child was pulling their mask off their face.

This will go down as one of the darkest times in travel outside of 9/11 and the days that followed that tragedy. But unlike 9/11, these mask rules did NOT draw people closer together but instead caused a great divide. Too many videos were going viral showing passengers fighting over someone not wearing a mask "properly" (in their opinion) or wearing one that had a message on it that some others didn't like. And the tension was just getting worse and worse.

All of this was impacting, in a very negative way, air travel and someone's desire to even step on a plane. Even though travel is up year to year in comparison to 2021 and 2020, it is still far below the levels that were being seen in 2019. And the masks were playing a role in the drop in travel, regardless of what the mainstream media has been reporting.

The removal of masks should cause a nice jump in airfare purchases and travel in general. Watch for airfare to tick up as well as demand increases and flight attendant issues still remain. So this great news about the removal of masks could mean that you really need to think about planning even earlier than before.

So what's your thoughts? Likely to travel more now that masking is completely optional? Does this impact your travel plans at all? Leave a comment and let us know.