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Home » American Airlines » American Airlines Adds Mask Exemption For Disabled Passengers
American Airlines

American Airlines Adds Mask Exemption For Disabled Passengers

Matthew Klint Posted onFebruary 2, 2021February 2, 2021 17 Comments

American Airlines Mask Jerk

The new U.S. federal mandate on masks allows for a limited number of exemptions, including for passengers with disabilities. American Airlines now says it is adjusting its mask policy and will allow passengers claiming a disability to travel without a mask if a pair of pre-flight conditions are met.

American Airlines Adds Mask Exemption For Disabled Passengers

Beginning today, American Airlines will “ask” passengers with disabilities which prevent them from wearing a mask to notify AA’s Special Assistance team at least 72 hours prior to their flight to “request” an exemption. The team is reachable through AA’s main telephone number (+1 800.433.7300) then asking to be transferred.

Documentation will be required including a note from a licensed health care provider as well as a negative COVID-19 test (no more than 72 hours old) or proof of recovery from COVID-19.

That’s it.

No further airport checks at the airport will be conducted. Previously, passengers two years old or over who could not wear a mask were not permitted to fly.

Ironic: American Airlines Opposes Domestic Pre-Flight COVID Testing

The news is a bit ironic in that American Airlines has strongly opposed proposals for domestic pre-flight testing mandate, noting that such a requirement would be too burdensome to justify.

But in accordance with the new mandate, American Airlines sees testing as a viable alternative to masks in order to keep other passengers safe onboard…or at least comply with the new federal mandate.

David Seymour, AA’s Chief Operating Officer, noted that masks will continue to be critical:

“Our mask requirement has been and will continue to be a critical component of our comprehensive effort to protect the health and well-being of our customers and team members during the pandemic. This federal mandate will provide additional support to our crew members who are working diligently to enforce our policy and further reinforce the safety of air travel during COVID-19.”

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will enforce the new federal mandate.

CONCLUSION

Live and Let’s Fly noted that the new federal mask mandate had the potential to undermine mask compliance onboard by creating a broad new loophole for disabilities, which unscrupulous passengers could exploit to avoid wearing masks.

While providing exemptions to those who truly cannot wear a mask is a laudable policy goal, that number should be very few. Time will now tell if the new exception will embolden a new wave of politically-driven defiance, now protected by a broad disability exception.


> Read More: Federal Mask Mandate On Planes Is Regress, Not Progress (Op-Ed)


image: American Airlines

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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17 Comments

  1. Sean Reply
    February 2, 2021 at 9:57 am

    Cool. Now add exemption for 2 year olds. Expecting any age under 5 to wear one consistently is removed from any sort of reasonable reality.

    Traveling w a 2 yr old is stressful enough without masks in the equation.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      February 2, 2021 at 10:05 am

      Agreed that children under five should be exempt.

      I am still uncomfortable with the “disabled” exception after the emotional support animal issue was exploited mercilessly.

    • Ryan Reply
      February 2, 2021 at 10:07 am

      My four year old, who is generally uncooperative, wears masks at school all day without incident. As do all his classmates and those in the preschool year below him. There is no reason to exempt children between 2 and 5 from the requirement.

      • emercycrite Reply
        February 3, 2021 at 8:33 pm

        @Ryan – Agreed. If your two-year-old is unable to comply s/he should not be travelling. Simple.

  2. Sean Reply
    February 2, 2021 at 10:28 am

    4 is much different than 2. Lucky for you you’re pre-school is open.

  3. Stuart Reply
    February 2, 2021 at 10:32 am

    At the very least they included the need to provide a negative Covid test. This at least makes for a bit more of jumping through some hoops and not SO easy.

    • cargocult Reply
      February 3, 2021 at 9:33 pm

      A problem with the testing requirement is that it can be easily circumvented with fake documents. I had to get tested for flights twice last week and the checking of the results was cursory. PCR testing pre-flight is also useless for the purpose of preventing infections. Mass antigen testing would alert us to the most infectious people while having the dual benefits of being quick and cheap. These tests cost $5. Everyone who spends time in close proximity with others indoors should be getting them regularly. Flights really aren’t where we need to be concentrating efforts on preventing spread, though. The necessity of testing for public psychology is understandable, of course, but it just goes to show that all the the talk of “following the science” is just talk.

  4. Pete Reply
    February 2, 2021 at 10:37 am

    So now that it’s a federal mandate, do we think that there will be more ADA challenges?

    This whole disability exemption was mostly debated last year; even patients with the most severe lung diseases were deemed by doctors to be ok to wear masks. Again I don’t see why there should such a broad exemption carved out.

    • derek Reply
      February 2, 2021 at 12:33 pm

      If someone has severe lung disease, they cannot afford to get Covid-19 and should wear the best masks possible.

      • Alex Conway Reply
        February 2, 2021 at 1:23 pm

        Exactly, like an N95, or something.

  5. Mitch Cumstein Reply
    February 2, 2021 at 11:04 am

    I’ve already received a doctor’s note for my 2-year old. She has trouble maintaining a mask (gets quite panicky when you try to cover her face), and I couldn’t figure out why. So I suspected she must be disabled. The doctor agreed. She diagnosed it as a psychiatric condition.

    • emercycrite Reply
      February 3, 2021 at 8:35 pm

      My heart goes out to you.

  6. Brady Reply
    February 2, 2021 at 1:38 pm

    Cheer up. Just go back to believing science as the all-knowing expert Dr. Fauci clearly educated us less than a year ago…

    “There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask,” Fauci told CBSNews’ 60 Minutes in a March 8 interview with chief medical correspondent for CBS News Dr. Jon LaPook.

    “When you’re in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better and it might even block a droplet, but it’s not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is. And, often, there are unintended consequences — people keep fiddling with the mask and they keep touching their face,” said Fauci at that time.

    lol. The world would be such a more pleasant place to live if not for the incessantly unhappy Left’s deranged attempts at making life as miserable as possible for everyone else too.

    • Debit Reply
      February 3, 2021 at 2:27 am

      Your english is very good for someone from the traitor, terrorist camp.

      How is the orangutan doing?

      • emercycrite Reply
        February 3, 2021 at 8:38 pm

        Go Debit!

  7. Dale Reply
    February 3, 2021 at 5:13 am

    This begs the question: what about those who need to travel with no notice?

  8. Jennifer Reply
    March 2, 2022 at 3:07 pm

    I have angioedema and rosacea on my face. Wearing a mask can cause severe swelling on my face and has in the past. My son is moving to California and I want to be able to go visit him but I can’t wear a mask. I am hoping to get my medical exemption so I can fly. I am willing to wear a face shield but this whole thing after two years is getting ridiculous. Masks do not save lives. For me all the issues I have are from the vaccine.

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