The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday issued what it called a "strong recommendation" for air and rail passengers to wear face masks onboard and throughout their journey to help control the spread of Covid-19.
While every major U.S. airline for months have required passengers to wear masks onboard, as does Amtrak, the industry still cheered the CDC's move as an important step in encouraging passenger compliance.
"There simply cannot be an economic and jobs recovery unless travel is able to broadly resume, and the universal embrace of mask-wearing and other hygiene measures is the thing that is going to enable that to happen," said U.S. Travel Association CEO Roger Dow in a statement. "That's why the travel industry has been emphasizing the necessity of masks since the early days of the pandemic, and will keep repeating it as often as we need to until it's fully automatic behavior among travelers."
Dow called the CDC's recommendation "helpful and clear." The agency previously had recommended everyone wear masks in public settings, but Monday's statement, issued as interim guidance, used stronger language that specifically addresses air and rail travel, among other forms of travel, and comes at a time when the wearing of masks remains a politically contentious issue.
The CDC's guidance covers all aspects of public conveyance, including airports and train stations as well as airlines and trains. "Conveyance operators transporting people should refuse boarding to anyone not wearing a mask and require all people onboard, whether passengers or employees, to wear masks for the duration of travel," except in a few circumstances including times when it is necessary to establish identity to a Transportation Security Administration screener or an airline gate agent, according to the new CDC guidance.
CDC also recommended passengers wear masks when using subways, buses, taxis and ride-shares, as well as in their associated stations.