(OTTAWA) As the list of countries that require masks to be worn on planes continues to melt, the National Airlines Council of Canada is urging the Trudeau government to allow travelers to ditch the mask.
Posted at 6:24 p.m.
Some of the strictest countries in terms of health measures against COVID-19 such as Australia and New Zealand have recently determined that it will no longer be necessary to wear a mask on board domestic and international flights.
Germany, which was going it alone within the European Union, must soon take the same turn. In Canada, if we suspended the vaccination obligation last June to board a plane or a train, we decided to maintain the obligation to cover your face during these trips.
The disparity in lockers is a headache for travelers, but more importantly, a burden for airlines and their employees, laments Jeff Morrison, president and CEO of the National Airlines Council of Canada, which represents Air Canada, Air Transat, Jazz Aviation LP and WestJet.
“We don’t really talk about it, but the crews who have to enforce the rule are increasingly being harassed by passengers. Yes, it was happening at the start of the pandemic, but it’s been even worse for some time, ”he said in an interview.
And since more and more Canadians are vaccinated or caught COVID-19, and that ventilation on board aircraft is safe, the masks must fall, he pleads, inviting federal ministers to take the pulse of airlines and their employees.
“I urge the Minister [des Transports] Omar Alghabra to discuss with the crews who are on the front line and who must enforce this rule. There is stress, anxiety, employees who no longer want to come to work when we already have the challenges of a labor shortage, ”explains Jeff Morrison.
A “little restrictive” measure
Minister Alghabra’s office argues that maintaining this obligation follows “public health recommendations”.
“The mask is a non-restrictive sanitary measure that allows people to be protected in a place with limited space such as an airplane. However, as with any measure, we are constantly evaluating and adapting them,” it said in an email earlier this week.
The Conservative opposition in Ottawa has been calling for months to scrap this measure, along with the requirement to complete the ArriveCAN form before entering Canada and random testing for COVID-19 .
Bloc Québécois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval, for his part, maintains that his party “sees favorably the lifting of the wearing of masks on planes and airports, insofar as it is recommended by public health and allows travelers to move around safely”.
People boarding federally regulated planes and trains must wear a mask throughout their journey. The mask is also required at checkpoints in airports, boarding, and in the customs control area.
The request from the Canadian Airports Council is not new; before the start of the summer tourist season in early June, Ottawa was urged to remove the remaining sanitary measures at the border as soon as possible.