The TSA's new mandate is an effort to"ensure healthy and secure travel across all transportation sectors," said Darby LaJoye, the senior official performing the duties of the TSA administrator."This will help prevent further spread of COVID-19 and encourage a unified government response."
TSA may deny entry, boarding, or transport to passengers without a mask, and failure to comply with the mandate could result in civil penalties, the agency said in aon Sunday. Airlines requiring masks have already banned more than 2,5000 passengers for not complying with their mask rules. Delta and United alone had banned almost 1,500 passengers as of last month.
The agency said passengers 2 and younger will not be required to wear a mask. As flyers go through security checkpoints, agents will ask them to briefly remove their mask to confirm their identities. Though the number of flyers is starkly lower as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still hundreds of thousands of air passengers in the US per day, according to
Has been that way almost for over a year.
...now?
Been that way