A group of 309 pilots and flight attendants asked an appeals court to declare the federal government’s mask rule permanently illegal—after a Florida judge struck down the mandate earlier this week.
The group, who work for 16 airlines and are based in 35 states, filed arguments this week urging the court to permanently block the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from mandating a mask mandate.
On Monday, federal Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle struck down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) rule mandating masks on airplanes and other forms of public transportation. On Wednesday, the Justice Department filed an appeal.
“It was a wonderful surprise to hear of Judge Mizelle’s ruling yesterday that vacated CDC’s unlawful Federal Transportation Mask Mandate,” Janviere Carlin, a JetBlue pilot who coordinated the signatures on the amicus curiae brief filed in support of 13 passengers in nine states, told a travel blog about their challenge. “Despite this wonderful judgment striking down CDC’s ability to force masking, we still filed our brief in the Wall v TSA case because we are not fooled into thinking that this administration will give up so easily.”
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