Today, a Florida judge overturned the national mask mandate for planes and trains. At the same time, flight attendants across the country are putting pressure on airlines to make this a federal change.
“We’re no longer complying, it’s time for the masks to come off, the CEO’s have come out and said that its time for the masks to come off yet its continuing so we’re just saying it stops now,” said flight attendant Alaina Trocano.
Airline workers feel the mandate is no longer in the best interest of their own safety or the safety of their passengers.
“It depletes your oxygen level and that’s main thing, we’re flying at 35,000 feet and the higher up you get the less oxygen you’re getting,” said flight attendant Laurie Parke.
“I started getting light headed, dizzy, headaches, I wasn’t thinking clearly or as fast as I normally do and it was increasing over time,” said Trocano.
Airports have also seen incredible push back in the past few months from passengers pushing back against the mask requirement.
“We’ve seen a doubling of our disturbance calls and a doubling of our arrests, many of them related to the mask mandate issues and the frustrations of the passengers,” said Rick Piccolo, President and CEO of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.
Piccolo says the mask mandate is counter intuitive, since passengers are not required to wear them once they exit the airport.
“Aircrafts exchange their air every 3 minutes so its actually cleaner air than in a building,” said Piccolo.
One local Sarasota resident says he just simply isn’t used to wearing one.
“I don’t think they’re necessary anymore we’ve gone a long time without them, most places don’t have them, certainly not in Florida so I’m not used to wearing a mask,” said Jack Kieler, a local Sarasota resident.
Others say they will continue to wear the mask until the mandate is lifted.
“I’m going to wear it if I have to, like I said I’ll be very glad when I don’t have to,” said a traveler at SRQ Airport.
At the end of the day, airline workers say they want what’s best for their passengers while standing up for their own rights.
“We want to fly and we want to take care of our passengers and we wants to take care of ourselves and our crew members and flights but we’re not going to jeopardize our safety for this, especially when its not necessary,” said Trocano.
SRQ Airport will continue to comply with federal guidelines until the CDC lifts the mask mandate. As of now that is expected to be May 3rd.
