TSA Extends Mask Mandate

Yesterday afternoon, the Transportation Security Administration announced it will be extending it’s federal transportation mask mandate. The mandate which was originally set to expire on September 13th will remain in effect through January 18th. TSA authorities said the purpose of the mandate is to ‘minimize the spread of Covid-19 on public transportation’ and the extension comes as case numbers of the Coronavirus, Delta and Beta variants continue to grow in the United States.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, almost 3,000 incidents of passengers violating the federal mask mandate have been reported so far this year. Sara Nelson the President of the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents nearly 50,000 attendants with 17 airlines said she supports the extension as they have been on the front lines of enforcing the requirement. She said the decision will “help tremendously to keep passengers and aviation workers safe.”