The White House is refusing to rule out ending the airline mask mandate next week. The legal requirement to wear a face mask in airports and on airlines in the US expires on April 18 after numerous extensions. But White House officials are flagging the possibility of another extension."This is a decision the CDC is going to make," White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr Ashish Jha told NBC's Today on Monday. "Throughout the entire pandemic, we've wanted to make decisions based on evidence and science."When pushed on the subject, Dr Jha confirmed a further public transport mask mandate extension wasn't out of the question. "It is absolutely on the table," he said.With the current mask mandate expiring next week, Washington will need to make a decision sooner rather than later. Several US states are seeing a rise in COVID-19 case numbers, primarily attributed to the highly transmissible subvariant of omicron, BA.2. Several high-profile US politicians and decision-makers have also confirmed catching COVID over the last week.

The push to end the US mask mandate

But a big push to end the mask mandate is also underway. In late March, the US airline industry trade group Airlines for America wrote to the US President Joe Biden asking for the mask mandate to end.

"Now is the time for the Administration to sunset federal transportation travel restrictions – including the international pre-departure testing requirement and the federal mask mandate – that are no longer aligned with the realities of the current epidemiological environment," the March 23 letter read.

"It makes no sense that people are still required to wear masks on airplanes yet are allowed to congregate in crowded restaurants, schools, and at sporting events without masks, despite none of these venues having the protective air filtration system that aircraft do."

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Laws in force since 2020 have required airline passengers in the US to wear face masks in airports and on aircraft. Photo: Getty Images

A mask extensions decision is expected within days

Ten airline CEOs signed that letter. But they are not the only ones pushing back. Also, in March, the Attorney Generals of 21 states sued the US Government over the mask mandate, saying it violated state sovereignty. In Washington DC in March, the US Senate voted 57 to 40 to overturn the public transportation mask mandate - a move that President Biden threatened to veto. Meanwhile, several polls of the US public suggest a slight majority of people want the public transportation mask mandate to stay.

The end of the mask mandate would be a boon for frontline workers in airports and on airlines. They've had to bear the brunt of increasing numbers of bad passenger behavior since the mandate came into effect in 2020. A significant proportion of that bad behavior is related to face mask non-compliance issues.

Perhaps looking for some political cover for his boss, Dr Jha stressed that CDC Director Rochelle Walensky would decide whether the mandate should be extended. That decision will be based on a "scientific framework" due to be finished within days. Washington is also considering lifting requirements that international visitors get a negative COVID-19 test within a day of travel, with many countries having dropped testing requirements.