KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has announced that it will stop enforcing the Dutch government’s mask mandate on airplanes starting today, an act of defiance which it hopes will lead to swift policy change.
KLM Calls Dutch Mask Policy Unfair, Won’t Enforce It
Across The Netherlands, the mask mandate on public transport is now lifted–with one glaring exception: air travel. Masks are still required at airports and on airplanes, per Dutch policy. But four dutch carriers, including KLM, are not going along with the new policy, which they argue unfairly and illogically segregates airlines.
KLM expressed frustration with the exception:
“We find it disappointing that the use of face masks during boarding and during the entire flight is still being considered by the Dutch government, while this has been abandoned everywhere in the Netherlands.
“The sector finds this approach inappropriate, given the phase the pandemic is in. It is also at odds with European and international developments that we monitor closely. Because the explainability and proportionality continue to decline, we see an increase in misunderstanding among our passengers.”
Citing concern over passenger confusion and rebellion, KLM and three other carriers (Transavia, TUI and Corendon) say it will no longer enforce the government’s mask policy onboard its flights. Passengers will be reminded they are “strongly encouraged” to wear a mask, but if a passenger chooses not to, nothing will be said.
“We notice that passengers are less and less willing to put on the masks. This has recently led to an increase in aggression on board towards our crew and other passengers.”
KLM also out there is far better circulation on airplanes than on trains, for example, so why are masks no longer required on trains if they are on planes?
Could We See This In USA?
While I expect the transport mask mandate in the USA to fully expire on April 18, 2022, even if it was extended I don’t think we’d see something similar play out in the USA.
It is true that KLM was also the recipient of tremendous government aid during the pandemic (3.4 billion euros). As such, you might not expect the airline to bite the hand that feeds it. But there’s a different dynamic at play and the absolute dependence of U.S. airlines on the federal government (U.S. taxpayers) makes it much more unlikely U.S. carriers would try anything similar in the event that airlines and airports were singled out for a further extension of the mask mandate.
CONCLUSION
It will be interesting to see how this plays out on KLM. Will it cause more conflict (as passengers with different expectations concerning masks interact) or will it reduce conflict? Will KLM still enforce masking when flying to destinations which mandate it? Will the Dutch government back down and rescind its final exception to the mask ordinance? KLM represents a fascinating test case.
Intra-EU only, or also flying EU to non-EU?
Well, to be honest, I like the statement KLM and the three others made, as it shows that they are thinking about the regulation and even more, they are standing up to shout out!
It absolutely makes no sense to have a law which will not be enforced or sanctioned – because I don’t think that a passenger will be finded by the police at the destination because he was not wearing a mask, especially when you have to do it on KLM while going AMS-LHR, but NOT on BA on the same route.
The flight attendends are not there to “play the police” and if the travelers do not understand why they should do something (bad communication by government, etc.), why should the airline take the responsibility.
Anyhow, if you feel better, then wear a mask, nobody will prevent you from doing so,
Thank You! Finally, someone gets it.
Awesome. Finally some common sense. Let’s hope the US airlines push back against this ridiculous ongoing covid theatre policy ASAP!
I would hope Delta and Air France follows suit but I doubt it.
Mask Karens are welcome to rebook to a mandate-loving airline like UA if they get too triggered by this.
UA CEO just signed a letter (along with other CEOs) addressed to Biden demanding the mask mandate be rescinded.
https://www.airlines.org/news/a4a-urges-white-house-to-lift-predeparture-testing-requirements-mask-mandate/
I don’t think you know what a Karen is. It’s people like YOU who better fit the term. Selfish.
This is not the first time the CEO of KLM has been outspoken about Covid precautions. Time has moved on, the pandemic is in a different phase and if we are to believe all we are told about aircraft air circulation then masks need to be a choice for everyone on board.
if they are picking out useless things to push back against, why just covid?
Seatbelts while taxiing? Pray tell, exactly how many lives have been saved by wearing your seatbelt during taxi. That’s just the most obvious one, i’m sure there are many more…lets start a revolution!
Equating car crashes to catching covid is the absolute dumbest comparison one can make about this topic. The absolute, single-digit-IQ, dumbest. I hope you never post here again.
Pot, meet kettle. Pretty sure he was referring ti air airplane seatbelts, not cars. Careful throwing around the “S” word.
LOL! Reading comprehension issues? Did you not notice the word “taxi”? Hope your NEVER comment here again! SMH!
its pretty awesome when the person talking about single digit IQ can’t pass basic reading comprehension.
Why are you celebrating a self-interested corporation’s implementation of their preferred public health policy over actual regulations from representatives of a democratically elected government? No pushback on idea that it is time for a change but allowing corporate clowns to decide when or if they want to follow regulations is truly a sad affair. Throw the CEO in jail. Democracy is messy but regulation is the domain of governments. Don’t like government policy, change who is elected to govern. Who do I contact to change the corporate clown heading up KLM? Like all corporate clowns, they will do anything they can away with that boosts profits. Remember that when you are left sitting on a runway for an 8-hour delay with no recourse and KLM decides not to implement compensation measures on that day. Just because. Boycott KLM
The cloth mandates are dangerous and illegal on several levels. Cloth fibers cannot filter germs, which can be 20 micro-nanometers or 1000x smaller, and interfere with the safe operation of an airplane especially the oxygen masks by increasing hypoxia confusion by restricting normal breathing even at nominal O2 levels. This is against international aviation laws and conflicts with federal regulations in the USA. Discrimination, employee and passenger rights, and social and personal harassment are also legal issues and the right of airlines to make final decisions regarding the safety of their passengers, and the right and diplomatic immunity of airline captains to make decisions regarding onboard safety, including social unrest . The bottom line is masks do not protect from germs and increase public and flight hazards and therefore are being discontinued. Hats off to KLM for leading industry safety and passenger and employee rights.
Weirdly, though mask mandates are gone where I now am, I still see a lot of the people (particularly in the sort of high end and organic food markets where almost everyone is wearing a mask voluntarily) are wearing cloth masks. People are strange.
At any rate, I do not recall Dutch executives being known for their obtuseness.
What a narrow-minded and ignorant comment. “Where you are” is not a factor in where people may be travelling to and what is required there. Not to mention, are you aware of every single person’s reason for choosing to wear a mask? Now YOU can tell by looking who is in treatment for chemotherapy, perhaps caregiving to someone who can’t get vaccinated because they are allergic, works in an industry where masks are still necessary etc…? Wow! Your self-centred world view is truly astonishing. I wear a mask to protect my parents in their 70’s from Covid. I travel by air to see them. And I won’t apologise TO YOU for caring about their health and the risk I pose to them. My mask and triple vaccination status is none of YOUR business and not for you to judge. Masks are still mandatory where we live, by the way.