ATL Standard

Delta Airlines will not mandate masks as of late evening Monday, April 18.  

The change in Delta’s policy was announced after an executive with the ATL Standard sent a cease and desist letter to Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian as well as its media and legal teams Monday evening notifying the airline of an earlier judge’s ruling on the matter.

"This is a notice that flight attendants are currently - as of 16:52 CDT - in STL and in the air above are violating passenger rights by enforcing the unlawful Federal Mask Mandate," the letter from the ATL Standard associate read.  

"The Federal Mask Mandate was struck down Monday, April 18. See the attached order by Honorable Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in United States Federal Court in Tampa."

"Kimball's ruling in part reads:"

‘Because it exceeded the authority granted in & 264(a), the Court must 'hold unlawful and set aside' the Mask Mandate as an agency action that is "not in accordance with law IS 'in excess of statutory jurisdiction, and "short of statutory right.' 5 U.S.C.’

"I am currently on DL 788 St. Louis to Atlanta."

"I ask you to have your employees adhere to this federal standard and preserve my rights as provided by the U.S. Constitution and upheld by the Honorable Kathryn

Kimball Mizelle," the cease and desist letter reads.

In the hours after Mizelle’s order vacating the federal mask mandate, Delta employees and TSA agents were still mistakenly mandating masks after the order had been overturned and deemed unlawful to enforce.

The cease and desist notice was drafted to the airline after a flight crew aboard St. Louis to Atlanta flight number DL 788 forced passengers to wear masks in violation of the court order handed down earlier in the day.

In an exchange with the crew aboard the Atlanta-based aircraft, the issue came to a head.

"We have to," a stewardess told the ATL Standard when asked why Delta employees were requiring masks in violation of Mizelle’s order.

The stewardess then directed the matter to the cockpit.

"That is fine…I don’t want to wear it either," the stewardess told the ATL Standard.

The pilot of the flight was not wearing a mask in the cockpit when the plane was nearly ready to take off.

"I wouldn’t go back there and do that," the maskless pilot said regarding passengers not wearing masks on the flight.

Overlooking the pilot’s refusal to wear a mask, the flight crew and co-pilot in particular aimed their attention on non-compliant passengers, notifying them they would need to put on a mask for the flight to take off.

Flight personnel were notified they were violating the constitutional rights of passengers by implementing the unlawful federal mask mandate.

"We just want to get to Atlanta. It is an hour, if you don’t want to wear the mask you don’t have to come with us," the flight’s co-pilot told the ATL Standard.

The co-pilot threatened to kick any passenger off the plane who failed to comply with the unlawful mask mandate.

"I don’t care, you can’t fly on Delta if you don’t want to wear it," the co-pilot told the ATL Standard.

Following the conversation, the ATL Standard served Bastian and Delta’s legal and media teams with a cease and desist order, time stamped 5:06 p.m. Central Daylight Time noting passenger rights were being infringed by the continued enforcement of the mask mandate.

DL 788 from St. Louis touched down at Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

A Delta agent who met the ATL Standard associate at the gate upon arrival in Atlanta said Delta had not yet had time to put out guidance on the ruling.  

"Delta has not put anything out for us to follow yet," the gate agent told the ATL Standard.

The gate agent also noted the flight crew requested video of the encounter aboard the craft be destroyed.

"The flight crew is asking you to delete (the video)," the gate agent told the ATL Standard.

At 7:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Delta released a statement noting it would no longer enforce mask mandates.

Delta made the announcement to incoming flights and as flights began to land passengers for the first time in over two years disembarked from Delta Airlines planes without masks.

Delta noted in its announcement that it requested patience from travelers over the next 24 hours as all airline employees are updated on the unconstitutionality of President Joe Biden's mask mandate.

"You may experience inconsistent enforcement during the next 24 hours as this news is more broadly communicated – remember to show understanding and patience with other who may not be aware enforcement is no longer required," Delta said in a press release timed 8:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on April 18.

Delta further celebrated the ruling.

"We are relieved to see the U.S. mask mandate lift to facilitate global travel as COVID-19 has transitioned to an ordinary seasonal virus. Thank you for your support in complying with the federal mask mandate and keeping each other, and our customers, safe during the pandemic," the Delta statement said.

The late announcement by Delta followed Mizelle’s ruling from earlier in the day on Monday, April 18.

Mizelle ordered the federal mask mandate unconstitutional in the United State District Court in the Middle District of Florida Tampa Division.

Other airlines quickly followed suit including United, American, Southwest, Alaska by the evening's end.

In a March 23 memo signed by Bastian and the leadership of a consortium of airlines, asked President Joe Biden to relieve travelers of the mask mandate.

In the letter, the group called the mandate "outdated."

"It is critical to recognize that the burden of enforcing both the mask and predeparture testing requirements has fallen on our employees for two years now. This is not a function they are trained to perform and subjects them to daily challenges by frustrated customers. This in turn takes a toll on their own well-being," it said in a memo.

"The high level of immunity in the U.S., availability of high-quality masks for those who wish to use them, hospital-grade cabin air, widespread vaccine availability and newly available therapeutics provide a strong foundation for the Administration to lift the mask mandate and predeparture testing requirements. We urge you to do so now."

"We are requesting this action not only for the benefit the of the traveling public, but also for the thousands of airline employees charged with enforcing a patchwork of now-outdated regulations implemented in response to COVID-19."  

That group includes Delta, Alaska Air Group, Atlas Air Worldwide, FedEx Express, JetBlue Airways, United Airlines, Airlines for America, American Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Southwest Airlines and UPS Airlines.