Wearing a face mask – and having an assortment of masks to choose from is now the new normal.
And Stuck at The Airport is gathering examples of what airports are doing to put their mark on their masks and their efforts to remind travelers to wear their masks.
To kick off the ‘collection,’ we have these nice reminders:
Rocky Balboa is back—on pins worn by #PHLAirport employees to support Philadelphia’s #MaskUpPHL campaign. Pins featuring the Rocky statue wearing a face mask remind everyone to wear a mask to help fight the spread of COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/ZtmblQlH7z
And we see that Dulles International Airport (IAD) recently sent out this tweet to help travelers remember what days they are required to wear a mask at the airport.
Spoiler: that would be everyday.
Friendly reminder to wear your mask in the airport on days that end with the letter "Y"
As another month of being grounded kicks in, here are some travel tidbits that got our attention.
Delta Air Lines’ “No Mask- No Fly” list is growing
If the rule is “Wear a mask when you’re on the plan,” then we’re all for passengers being put on no-fly lists if they don’t comply.
Delta Air Lines says it now has about 130 people on its “no mask – no-fly” list.
.@Delta CEO Ed Bastian says there's about 130 people on the airline's no-fly list for refusing to wear masks. "We're going to make certain that we enforce it even if the federal government doesn't give us the back up to put a regulation in place." https://t.co/SKz8IXQA12pic.twitter.com/vsgDrV8KtW
Miss airline food? This company will sell you some
Tamam Kitchen, which provides in-flight meals for Israel’s El Al airlines, Turkish Airlines and some other international carriers that fly out of Tel Aviv, is selling its meals to people on the ground.
We found some interesting insights about what business travel might look like in the future in a new global survey from SAP Concur, a company that tracks business expenses for companies.
96% of business travelers surveyed expect their employer to make critical changes when travel resumes.
Those changes include mandatory personal health screenings for traveling employees (39%), limiting business travel to only the most business-critical trips (39%), and easier access to PPE like gloves or facemasks (33%).
What is the plan if employers do not make changes?
65% of respondents intend to act if their employer does not make these changes:
Nearly one in five (18%) plan to look for a new role inside or outside the company that does not require travel. That number is higher in the U.S., where nearly one in four (23%) plan to consider new roles that do not require travel if their concerns are not addressed.
Most every airline now requires passengers to wear face coverings in airports and on airplanes.
But now the failure to do so may result in denied boarding or a ban on future travel.
On Monday, the airline trade group Airlines for America (A4A) announced that for the duration of the COVID-19 health crisis its member airlines, including Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest and United, are stepping up enforcement of face coverings.
The airlines will also now impose “substantial consequences for those who do not comply with the rules.”
Each carrier will be determining its own set of consequences for passengers who do not comply. But those policies may now include being banned from flying on the airline.
United Airlines says in a statement that starting June 18 and for at least the next 60 days, “any passenger that does not comply when onboard a United flight will be placed on an internal travel restriction list. Customers on this list will lose their travel privileges on United for a duration of time to be determined pending a comprehensive incident review.”
United has been requiring passengers to wear masks on board aircraft since May 4 and most passengers have been complying.
But not all. So the new rule “is an unmistakable signal that we’re prepared to take serious steps, if necessary, to protect our customers and crew,” said United’s Chief Customer Officer, Toby Enqvist in the airline’s statement.
United says flight attendants will “proactively inform” customers not wearing face mask of the rules and offer masks, if needed.
Then:
“If the customer continues to be non-compliant, flight attendants will do their best to de-escalate the situation, again inform the customer of United’s policy, and provide the passenger with an In-Flight Mask policy reminder card.”
“ If a customer continues to not comply, the flight attendant will file a report of the incident, which will initiate a formal review process.”
“Any final decision or actions regarding a customer’s future flight benefits will not occur onboard but instead take place after the flight has reached its destination and the security team has investigated the incident.“
American Airlines says its updated policies will go into effect June 16. Customers who do not comply with the requirement to wear face coverings at the gate will be denied boarding.
“American may also deny future travel for customers who refuse to wear a face covering,” the airline said in a statement.
Other airlines will likely spell out the consequences for not complying with the face mask requirement in the next day or two.
