Local airport nixes mask rules

The Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport announced Tuesday it is not requiring masks in its terminal.

Executive Director Tony Bean said the airport is following the federal government’s rulings, and if anytime in the future the rules are reversed, the airport will follow suit.

Pullman Transit lifted its mask mandate Tuesday for both employees and patrons on its buses and Dial-A-Ride vehicles. The decision to withdraw from its Jan. 29, 2021, order to require masks on public transport is in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines, according to a news release from the city of Pullman.

While masks are no longer required, the CDC encourages people to wear masks in indoor settings and on public transportation.

A federal judge in Florida lifted a national mask mandate on transportation including mass public transit and airlines Monday.

Soon after, airports around the nation began to drop the mandate. Airlines including United Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines no longer require masks, according to an Associated Press article.

Masks have been required in the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport for more than two years. Enforcing masks was a bit of a challenge when the state started to loosen its controls on mandates, Bean said. At the airport, staff had to remind people it was required to wear masks in the terminal, and it was still required on the aircraft.

Both patrons and employees at the airport are now not required to wear masks. Bean said the airport still encourages employees to wear masks and work at a safe distance, but a lot of work at the airport is done in distant proximity to one another.

“We still encourage people to do what they feel is comfortable for them, but it’s more of an individualized item at this point,” Bean said.

The airport will have masks available for people who still want to wear them.

“We would know we were out of COVID-19 when the airline industry became normal with the rest of the policies that you see in other industries,” Bean said. “I think it’s a very positive sign regarding COVID-19 that the airline and the airports are being more normalized with the rest of the industry. But we also know that that could change.”

Officials at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport didn’t immediately respond to interview requests about their operation’s mask policy.

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com or on Twitter @Emily_A_Pearce.