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British Airways reinstates face masks – and won’t say why

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Plot twist. According to reports, British Airways has had a last-minute change of heart and not removed the requirement to wear face masks.

The plan was to remove the requirement to wear masks, except for destinations where it is required by law, from today.

Heathrow Airport and Virgin Atlantic were also removing mask mandates from today.

British Airways backtracks on removal of face masks

It isn’t clear what is happening. Flyertalk posts from crew claim there are ‘compliance issues’ with removing the requirement for masks but the airline is not disclosing what these are.

All references to the removal of masks have disappeared from the BA website. The covid guidance pages still say that a mask is compulsory on all flights:

“Although UK rules are easing, here at British Airways like other airlines and airports, wearing face masks is still our policy. We’ll need you to wear a face mask in the airport and on board unless you are exempt. We have this policy to protect our most vulnerable customers and abide by the laws of countries around the world.

As a guide, a face mask could last up to four hours, so please make sure you bring enough for the duration of your trip. You will be asked to remove your mask for any passport checks, but you’ll be advised when to do so by our colleagues.

When you’re on board, you’re allowed to remove your face mask for a reasonable time to enable you to eat or drink. When you’re not consuming food or drink, your face mask must be placed back on and must cover your nose and mouth at all times.“

British Airways reinstating face masks

What is going on?

It’s not clear.

BA is claiming on Twitter that nothing has changed despite what passengers are being told, despite what BA staff are saying in our own comments section below and despite the website changes:

The move to retain face coverings on public transport in Scotland for a further period – these were meant to have been scrapped next week – has obviously caused issues for passengers on flights to Scotland.

It is possible that it is linked to passengers connecting in London. Do passengers flying to some countries have to wear a mask for their entire trip? Perhaps the whole aircraft must be masked if one person is connecting? There are reports of passengers being told that a decision on masks can only be taken after boarding. If this is true, however, why has SAS not been impacted after dropping masks?

Whatever the issue is, it has not impacted Jet2, Tui or Virgin Atlantic which have already removed the requirement to wear face masks.

More if we get it. For now, you better keep that mask to hand, even though you won’t need it at Heathrow or Gatwick in the airport.

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Comments (232)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Greg says:
    17 Mar17 March 06:24

    For the same reason doctors and nurses wear masks in every hospital nvthe country. Especially on covid wards

  • buchanan101 says:
    17 Mar17 March 06:25

    I’d have thought it fairly obvious why they’ve reinstated. Maybe they’ve actually noticed the Covid numbers and aren’t pretending it’s over, unlike the government. Wore FFP2 mask to and from Austria. No big deal.

    • John says:
      17 Mar17 March 06:29

      Why aren’t they requiring FFP2 or better masks then? And why are they serving food and drinks at all?

    • shd says:
      17 Mar17 March 07:52

      > Wore FFP2 mask to and from Austria

      I travelled by train to Innsbruck yesterday morning. FFP2 masks are mandatory on trains in Austria, unless you’re eating.

      Of course I was tempted to have a second breakfast and I don’t like to rush my food.

      • JerrySignfield says:
        17 Mar17 March 09:43

        Yet they have record cases, go figure!

        • buchanan101 says:
          17 Mar17 March 10:51

          And would have even more cases without masks being worn. Reduce transmission a bit and you will reduce cases a bit. That’s how it works.

          They’ve relaxed other restrictions and cases are taking off. Just like in the UK.

    • abc says:
      17 Mar17 March 14:10

      Though why did they then announce initially that would abolish maks? It’s not that Covid numbers suddenly started rising today.

  • Andrew J says:
    17 Mar17 March 06:31

    The page where this statement is on BA.com has a load of other out of date information like fast-track not being available and priority boarding not operating. Looks like this statement is just an older statement from when more general mask rules changed in England. So this might be a bit of a non-story.

    • Rhys says:
      17 Mar17 March 07:10

      It’s not a non-story. Multiple BA people have confirmed it to us.

      You can also bet that we would have had an angry email from the press office by now if it weren’t true.

      • Andrew J says:
        17 Mar17 March 07:15

        But something is adrift as the pasted statement from the out of date BA page still refers to requiring wearing a mask at the airport.

    • Rob says:
      17 Mar17 March 07:32

      They have probably had to go back to an old back up.

      • Andrew J says:
        17 Mar17 March 07:47

        It’s a shame BA haven’t managed to find the edit text option on their own website.

        • Lady London says:
          17 Mar17 March 11:30

          They found the Request Refund means no cash refund only a voucher (FTV) button quick enough though early in the days of covid

  • Ruralite says:
    17 Mar17 March 06:32

    Etihad actually made an announcement at the gate in Manchester last week when I flew, no mask you do not board/fly. Not sure if they took notice of exemptions, there was no mention of it. Can’t speak for economy but in business it was full compliance unless eating/drinking. Things are relaxing a bit in AUH but PCR every 2 weeks still required to update Al Hosn app which is checked by security most places, although no longer free PCRs

  • gordon says:
    17 Mar17 March 07:04

    Some parts of China have gone back into lockdown, So that will not help….

  • Timothy Firmager says:
    17 Mar17 March 07:43

    I was on a BA flight from Lisbon – London Heathrow yesterday and there was definitely a need to still wear masks except when actively eating/drinking. There were a number of people on board with connecting flights.

  • Greg says:
    17 Mar17 March 07:52

    The reason is blatantly obvious. It is the same reason that Hospital staff wear masks – especially on a COVID ward. Just suck it up guys. There is a new variant (a third leg of Omnicron) on its way. Medical journals are already referring it as Delticron. Sorry, but the fat lady is nowhere near appearing on stage.

    • shd says:
      17 Mar17 March 08:00

      There was an excellent article in the FT last week entitled “Vaccines and Omicron mean Covid now less deadly than flu in England”. Full of science, for those who want to follow it. It’s well worth reading:

      “A combination of high levels of immunity and the reduced severity of the Omicron variant has rendered Covid-19 less lethal than influenza for the vast majority of people in England”

      and

      “The proportion of people infected with Covid-19 in England who go on to die has dipped below that of seasonal flu, which has an infection fatality rate of roughly 0.04 per cent, for the first time during the pandemic”

      • bg1 says:
        17 Mar17 March 08:27

        That may well be true but totally sidesteps the multiplier of the huge numbers of infections compared to the flu.

        • Brian says:
          17 Mar17 March 11:17

          Your comment totally sidesteps the fact that, because people don’t get endlessly tested for flu, we can’t talk about numbers of flu infections. Remember that at least a third of positive Covid ‘cases’ are asymptomatic, and many more have very mild symptoms.

  • James says:
    17 Mar17 March 07:58

    Is anyone actually in charge at BA?

    • gordon says:
      17 Mar17 March 08:04

      “Charge” being the Optimal word after the price hikes….

    • Cranzle says:
      17 Mar17 March 08:36

      It seems as though PR or media is not their strong point currently. Their silence over the IT fiasco and generally lack of communication about anything very unprofessional. They’ve also as good as banned incoming communication to them too and are still blaming Covid!

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