U.S. airline companies want an end to mask and COVID testing rules for air travel — and many top infectious disease and public health experts agree with them. The chief executives of the country’s largest airlines asked President Joe Biden in a letter this week to let federal mask mandates at airports and on planes lapse next month, along with COVID-19 testing requirements for international travelers. The American Public Health Association (APHA) is “supportive of this request,” said its executive director, Dr. Georges Benjamin. “We think that as you look at the trajectory of the disease in the United States, it’s on a downward slope,” he said. “There’s no question that they can lift the mask mandate.” Experts also see little reason to keep testing international travelers for COVID. Right now, they must show proof they tested negative no more than one day before their trip or recovered from a COVID infection no more than 90 …