When the airline mask mandate was lifted by a Federal judge in April, most people cheered, but there were a loud segment of hysterics and memes that predicted doom. These are just two examples. After a very busy summer travel season we can now take a look back.

▪️After the mandate was lifted, cases rose slightly, and anecdotally you probably heard of many get Covid. But nowhere near prior spikes when the mask mandates were in place, nor was this summer any worse than the summer of ‘21.

▪️Looking at hospitalizations and deaths (posted in comments) is even more striking. These were much lower than the prior year, and didn’t see major spikes like in prior waves.

▪️Oswalt’s headline was misleading even at the time, as it referred to two UK airlines but was posted in the wake of the US ban ending. The CBS article ignored that restrictions had only been lifted within the UK and masks were still required on most of these airlines’ flights.

▪️It also ignored several other airlines who lifted (or stopped enforcing) mandates at that time which didn’t have staffing issues. And, ignored the massive cancelations last winter when mandates were still in place. In short, it was a laughable attempt at correlation/causation.

▪️In fact, after the UK mandate ended, cases plummeted and stayed relatively low all summer.

▪️The reality is that after a summer with planes and airports packed, with the vast majority of passengers and crew unmasked, there weren’t any serious health or staffing issues due to Covid. The hysterics and doom memes were wrong once again.