Following the recent voiding of the United States' mask mandate, United Airlines has announced it will be allowing some banned passengers back on flights. United previously held one of the strictest coronavirus policies of US carriers, grounding over 1,000 passengers due to refusal to adhere to mask requirements and firing unvaccinated employees.

The airline has said it will allow the passengers back on a case-by-case basis, provided they follow crew instructions.

United Airlines' policy

The US legacy carrier has made headlines throughout the pandemic due to its hard-line adherence to government legislation. In 2021, United implemented a staff policy requiring all employees to be vaccinated, with 200 former staff members having their contracts terminated due to refusing to upload evidence of their vaccination. The carrier relaxed its policy in March, allowing employees exempt on medical and religious grounds to return to customer-facing roles.

CEO Scott Kirby praised the mask mandate and the airline's position in a company memo, claiming that none of its employees had died of COVID in 8 weeks. Kirby stated ,“In dealing with COVID, zero is the word that matters – zero deaths and zero hospitalizations for vaccinated employees. And while I know that some people still disagree with our policy, United is proving that requiring the vaccine is the right thing to do because it saves lives.”

The policies have extended further than employees, with almost 1,000 passengers kicked off United Airlines flights due to refusal to wear masks. The airline previously expanded its mask policy past the WHO’s guidance of not recommending masks for under 5s, notably deplaning a young family after their two-year-old refused to “comply” with the legislation.

Voided mandate

Passengers onboard major US airlines erupted in cheers on Monday following the repealing of the CDC’s mask mandate by Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle. The mask mandate was enacted in February 2021, recently being extended until May 3.

TSA has noted it will not enforce the requirements while the case is under review.

In a statement, The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA has raised concerns that the sudden repealing could lead to further confusion and anger from passengers, noting, "In aviation operations, it is impossible to simply flip a switch from one minute to the next. It takes a minimum of 24-48 hours to implement new procedures and communicate this throughout the entire network. Policies and procedures must be updated and thoroughly communicated to hundreds of thousands of employees, along with millions of travelers. Announcements and signage, electronic and physical must be updated.”

“We urge everyone to practice patience, remain calm, and to continue to follow crewmember instructions. And we remind passengers that it is legally required to follow crewmember instructions, and that disruptive behavior has serious consequences as it puts everyone at risk. Our work space is your travel space. Let's get where we're going, together."

According to FAA, in 2022 alone, there were 1,233 reports of unruly passengers on flights, with 797 related to face masks. On average, there were 3.8 incidents for every 10,000 flights.

2021 saw a 500% increase in investigations against unruly passengers compared to 2020. The worrying trend is not exclusive to North America, with several Dutch airlines refusing to follow government legislation due to frequent aggression from passengers.