Question about the legality of masks on flights

[lookforthesun]

We are due to fly long haul next week out of London and have had covid last week and recovered. (I say recovered, had no symptoms)

I see that BA are still saying that masks are mandatory but is this legally enforceable? I was surprised to see it because I the mask mandate has been lifted in England now. Is this just a "recommended" from BA or can they actually throw you off if you're asleep and not wearing one?

They won’t throw you to your death mid flight no, if they notice, they will just just prod you awake and tell you to pull your mask up.

Depending on where you are travelling to you may find that masks still have to be worn in public buildings, transport, shops etc

Flying long haul, so internationally, the rules on how long you need to have been covid free aren't the UK rules, they will be for the country you are flying to.

Yup - as other posters have said, mask wearing is compulsory. Just flown long haul with KLM and it was made very clear throughout the flight that this was a condition of carriage. The only leg that there were issues was the first one out of UK. Couple of people claimed they were exempt and were asked to show proof. Both ended up with masks.
Someone else had a non standard mask and was told very clearly that he had two choices - to wear a proper mask or get off.
On flights in Peru, it was mandatory to wear either two masks or an FP20 mask.
As other posters have suggested, I would check mask wearing requirements for your destination. In South America, it was very, very strict.

The pandemic may be over in England but its not everywhere else.

You’re getting the replies you are because you questioned the ‘legality’ of BA’s rule, which suggests you were planning to challenge it. You’re now saying you’ll comply if it’s a condition of carriage. Which you know to be the case since you describe it as mandatory in the opening post.

Not sure what the point of the question was?

The pandemic may be over in England but its not everywhere else.

It's not even remotely over in England, except in the minds of the Tories.

I was looking this up recently as we're off on holiday soon, and I was surprised to see that masks are still required on flights. You can take it off to eat and drink (which makes the whole thing seem pointless) so you'll be able to take a break from it.

I’m also flying with BA to Vegas next week. When you’re eating and drinking it can come off :)

I believe if you have a doctor note for exemption you can get away with it. I know my mum had a letter when we traveled last year with TUI.

Obviously not sure if BA allow exemption letters though.

I'm not sure I'd be taking advice from a Northern Irish government website when flying out of London, either....

I flew BA last week. Most were pretty lax about mask wearing but yes you had to wear one. We didn't want to get quarantined in the country we were going to so we're stringent about it

I flew EasyJet in oct. A group refused to wear the mask and they took them off the flight before we left. They also said they'd had people arrested once they arrived in Spain for not wearing them on the flight. Unsure if that's still in place.

Just wear your mask

@LibbyL92

I’m also flying with BA to Vegas next week. When you’re eating and drinking it can come off :)

I believe if you have a doctor note for exemption you can get away with it. I know my mum had a letter when we traveled last year with TUI.

Obviously not sure if BA allow exemption letters though.

From BA.com, Covid FAQS..

“ Although rules are easing, here at British Airways, wearing face masks is still our policy and we’ll need you to wear a face mask in the airport and on board unless you are exempt.”

“Exempt” is a link that takes you to:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/face-coverings-when-to-wear-one-and-how-to-make-your-own

And FWIW a bit of background here with regard to BA and Virgin:

www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2022/01/20/british-airways-and-virgin-atlantic-will-make-face-masks-mandatory-despite-no-longer-being-law-from-next-week/

“It’s 10 days”

Depends where you are going. Spain enforce 15 days clear of positive test

@WondrousAcorn

You’re getting the replies you are because you questioned the ‘legality’ of BA’s rule, which suggests you were planning to challenge it. You’re now saying you’ll comply if it’s a condition of carriage. Which you know to be the case since you describe it as mandatory in the opening post.

Not sure what the point of the question was?

No, not planning to challenge anything, already said I'll be wearing a mask. I questioned the 'legality' as I thought that masks were no longer legally required. I wondered if BA hadn't updated their website and that actually masks were just recommended, like other places.

No drama, no being thrown off a flight or having a stand off with cabin crew.

Sorry to disappoint everyone :)

We flew long haul from Manchester last week with Tui.

Constant reminders over loud speaker in the airport terminal about the requirement to wear a mask within the airport.

Many announcements on the plane, particularly at the beginning about the need to wear a mask through the flight, including comments about being disembarked before departure, and being added to no fly lists if ignored mid flight. Tui staff asking passengers to put their mask back on after meals etc.

People willing to comply with the rules, tend not to question the legality of the rules.
Hopefully people who have an urge to question the legality of the rules like OP do so off the aircraft, rather than inflight, so they don't inconvenience fellow passengers and flight crew unreasonably.
You don't come across great, OP, tbh.

I'v flown in the pandemic, the reality is most people have snacks and drinks so don't wear a mask for the majority of the flight. If it's clear you aren't eating or drinking you'll be asked to put your mask on by the attendants as they pass.

Flights are still being diverted when passengers refuse to comply with the back rule.

Where are you going OP? The number of days after COVID rules are subject to those of your destination country, not England. Make sure that's still 10 days as its 14 days for most places

@AlternativePerspective

Story in the news the other day about an American Airlines flight which flew back to New York because of a passenger who refused to wear a mask. The rest of the passengers had to wait until the next day to be able to fly.

They’re lucky they weren’t lynched.

Something bigger than that must have happened. They only usually divert aircraft in life threatening or plane threatening situations (because it costs so much). They’d kick people off prior to take off but mid flight they’d either arrange for the police to meet the flight at the arrival gate or handcuff in aggressive situations. Perhaps there was a big group kicking off and the crew felt they were losing control of the situation and were too few to crew to handle it? (I was crew for 23 years until fairly recently)

@rainrainraincamedowndowndown

People willing to comply with the rules, tend not to question the legality of the rules.

How chilling. Very north Korea! Goodness if we aren't even allowed to ask QUESTIONS about the rules we have lost hope. Just eyes down, silently comply.

Just to remind you I've said I will be complying so it's not about starting a revolt. It literally was a question about the law in England being updated but BA website not reflecting this yet.

I think your attitude is quite scary.

@badservice

I'v flown in the pandemic, the reality is most people have snacks and drinks so don't wear a mask for the majority of the flight. If it's clear you aren't eating or drinking you'll be asked to put your mask on by the attendants as they pass.

Thank you, that sounds more palatable.

Yes, they enforce it. Iflew long haul a few days ago. The guy next to me was an entitled knob who kept leaving his mask off when the crew weren't around. I've been contacted by track and trace as I was in close contact to a positive case on the plane. I don't know if it was him but if it was it is more likely he will have passed it on.

I think k everyone should wear an N95 mask. They are more comfortable and offer more protection.

I think your attitude is quite scary.

Look, I'm happy to comply, because we are still in pandemic, and the rule is reasonable. If they said you don't need to wear a mask, I think I still wear them at the moment.
Not like I just follow everything they say without thinking.

Tbh, there are a lot of rules, depending on the situation. Some airline allow x kilo of baggage, some y kilo. I don't question if that's legal or not. If I'm unhappy about it, I just use other airline. Simple, without prioritizing my rights over others.

And no, it's nothing like to North Korea.

@Honeyroar

“ Something bigger than that must have happened. They only usually divert aircraft in life threatening or plane threatening situations (because it costs so much).”

I wonder if the incident being referred to is actually the AA flight ex MIA a few weeks ago, where as I recall it they turned back fairly early on in the flight…

www.cbsnews.com/news/american-airlines-flight-mask-miami-london/

I know it sounds extreme to turn back but if it was judged that the situation onboard might have really escalated then as I know you will know from your experience the further East you go out of MIA the fewer options there are (in terms of places to go to offload people) and maybe a U turn early on and offload at the place of departure was best for all concerned.

It's a requirement to wear them but my experience of flying with BA in the past few months were that they are fairly lax about it compared to what I've heard with other airlines. Just an announcement when boarding but no further reminders, and it felt like they were constantly bringing around snacks and drinks so you'd always be eating/drinking at some point in the flight. Definitely a sizeable minority of people wore them only when boarding/disembarking.