Be courteous — wear a mask if you’re sick and must travel, flight attendant union chief says

The leader of a flight attendants union on Tuesday encouraged airline passengers to wear a mask on flights if they’re feeling sick, telling CNBC she believes it’s an act of “common courtesy.” The comments come one day after a federal judge in Florida struck down the Biden administration’s Covid face-covering mandate for public transportation, including airplanes. The Transportation Security Administration said it will stop enforcing the pandemic policy, and the major US airlines said they’d stop requiring masks, too. Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson said she agrees with co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin, who said he thinks regardless of federal rules, people should wear a mask on public transportation if they have Covid or any other illness. “I think if there’s anything we’ve learned from this [pandemic], it has to be about common courtesy,” Nelson said, while noting the union had adopted a neutral position on whether the mask mandate should remain because its membership was divided. The union represents nearly 50,000 flight attendants at 17 airlines, according to its website. Nelson said that flight crews had masks on hand even before the Covid pandemic and would sometimes ask a passenger who is coughing repeatedly to put one on. “This is not about extending this mask policy. It’s more about how we’re recognizing that we’re looking out for each other and not bringing our own problems or viruses to other people knowingly.” Before Monday’s court decision, the national face-covering requirement was supposed to be in effect through May 3. <br/>