[J1ceasar]

And it wasn't handled property by attendant

[DeanFL]

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I'm the OP.

First, I am totally befuddled by some of the previous comments made by some - worthy IMO of an OMG... Some "ASSumptions" are quite bizzare.

Second, I researched this TSA Regulation and pasted pertinent language below. The entire PDF is on a link below. And I checked the SWA site - THEIR policy mirrors the TSA memo. This Directive is for ALL Domestic airlines.

Third, "between bites and sips"? Subjective - to interpretation / timing / monitoring/ viewing etc. I see that the TSA Directive expires 5/11 (would NOT doubt the it will be extended).

DIRECTLY from OFFICIAL TSA Memo:

To: Covered Aircraft Operators
Date: January 31, 2021
MEMORANDUM
Subject: Security Directive 1544-21-02


D. The requirement to wear a mask does not apply under the following circumstances:
1. When necessary to temporarily remove the mask for identity verification purposes.
2. While eating, drinking, or taking oral medications for brief periods. Prolonged periods of mask removal are not permitted for eating or drinking; the mask must be worn between bites and sips.
3. While communicating with a person who is deaf or hard of hearing, when the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication.
4. If wearing oxygen masks is needed because of loss of cabin pressure or other event affecting aircraft ventilation.
5. If unconscious (for reasons other than sleeping), incapacitated, unable to be awakened, or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance, or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.


https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/fi...1544-21-02.pdf
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[cj1040]

Your body... your choice....if you don't like wearing a mask then you REALLY wont like wearing a ventilator....so unfair and selfish of you to depend on the rest of us who are trying to mitigate this pandemic by getting vaccinated while you refuse to cooperate. So many intelligent talented people have died from this virus including several medical professionals who risked their lives to help others. SHAME ON YOU

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Gulfcoast

What?? Did they card the kid? How did they know the child was over 2?

If the flight attendants are expected to enforce idiotic rules, you can't blame them for doing their jobs. Blame the idiots who made the idiotic rules.

The parents said he was two... They asked if she was under two, as it would be okay...

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

I doubt you read the OP correctly. It was prior to take-off, and he brought his own box of twizzlers. Also it was Southwest Airlines; they haven't blocked the middle seats since early March, the flights are packed like cattle cars.

So the airline had every right to remove him for not complying with their rules. However, I think this in between bites masking policy is pretty stupid. Show me a medical study that shows this has any value. Then, since you are in a sardine can with your mouth 2- 2 1/2 feet from the next mouth, do you have to synchronize your bite with your neighbor so no two masks are down at the same time? Particularly hard if you are in the middle seat and have 2 neighbors to synchronize with. In addition, you spend 1 hour plus in a terminal where you better stay 6 feet away from everyone else, until.....you board a plane (translation: airlines make $$$ off packing a plane, terminals do not). Just wait for the chaos when the airlines require proof of vaccination.

Your mask synchronizing scenario gave me a chuckle. I do agree with you that the masking policy of masking in between bites is plain silly. This is why I will not even attempt to eat on an airplane if we do fly while this silly mask policy is in place. I have, however, practiced taking a sip of a drink in between masking. I'm quite good at that.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

I doubt you read the OP correctly. It was prior to take-off, and he brought his own box of twizzlers. Also it was Southwest Airlines; they haven't blocked the middle seats since early March, the flights are packed like cattle cars.

So the airline had every right to remove him for not complying with their rules. However, I think this in between bites masking policy is pretty stupid. Show me a medical study that shows this has any value. Then, since you are in a sardine can with your mouth 2- 2 1/2 feet from the next mouth, do you have to synchronize your bite with your neighbor so no two masks are down at the same time? Particularly hard if you are in the middle seat and have 2 neighbors to synchronize with. In addition, you spend 1 hour plus in a terminal where you better stay 6 feet away from everyone else, until.....you board a plane (translation: airlines make $$$ off packing a plane, terminals do not). Just wait for the chaos when the airlines require proof of vaccination.

Agreed. It's not hard to comply with the rules... IF you know what the rules are!

Simple solution? Ask him to re-mask between bites. If he complies, no problem. If he doesn't? Yes, I can see him being removed from the flight...

Unfortunately, the simple "re-mask" request never happened...

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Coal Miner

I doubt the accuracy of that story. I flew Southwest on Saturday. Masks are mandatory, thank goodness, but no excess enforcement.

Who suggested that masks shouldn't be worn?

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Just who would you push back against?????? The flight attendant that is simply doing what she is told? Federal law requires you to comply with the instructions of the captain and crew, or you can be removed. So your push back would be to not fly, which is exactly what will happen if you fail to comply with the crew's instructions. Lose-lose.

Yes. Yes. Very true.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Medtrans

There’s no medical condition that requires Twizzlers.

It's not and never has been about "the twizzlers"...

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Classic55

Been flying Southwest every other week for the last year. Never seen any Southwest action like that. Sounds untrue

I've seen videos of it happening...

[BettyInFL]

I also read that the reason the 'put it back on between bites' is being enforced, is that people would sit there with a bag of pretzels or nuts in their lap the whole trip to avoid wearing a mask.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by BettyInFL

I also read that the reason the 'put it back on between bites' is being enforced, is that people would sit there with a bag of pretzels or nuts in their lap the whole trip to avoid wearing a mask.

How about popcorn? I know how to eat popcorn one kernel at at time. I used to do that when I was in a movie theater way back when I was a smoker and smoking was banned in movie theaters. Worked for me.

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by DeanFL

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Oh Oh. I'm flying SWA to West coast then Midwest and back home next month.
Mental note - Only drop mask to take a sip, take a bite - then IMMEDIATELY back.
Follow Directives to a T, or....


Man says he was kicked off Southwest flight for failing to put his mask on — between bites of food.

One minute Avi Mandel was minding his own business on a Southwest Airlines plane before takeoff this weekend and eating a box of Twizzlers — and the next minute, he was kicked off the Florida-bound flight.

Mandel told WBZ-TV that he had been a frequent Southwest customer — that is until his Sunday flight from Thurgood Marshall Baltimore Washington International Airport to Fort Lauderdale.

While waiting for the flight to take off, Mandel told the station he got hungry and opened a pack of Twizzlers — and naturally when one eats, a mask makes that kind of awkward. So he removed his mask.

Then a flight attendant told Mandel he had to put his mask on, WBZ said, and he recalled that she "kind of, like, ran away. And I'm like, 'Oh, I guess she didn't know I was eating.' Then I hear on the loudspeaker, 'Everyone who's eating has to wear mask in between bites.'"
Suddenly, the plane returned to the gate, and a security team entered the plane to escort Mandel off, he told the station.
There was no drama. Mandel told WBZ he remained calm and respectful despite feeling embarrassed — but other passengers stuck up for him.

He showed the station video of passenger Stephanie Misiaszek telling the security team, "That is so wrong. He did nothing wrong. Wow."

The team was also told, "He was eating. Oh my God."

After departing the plane, Mandel appeared on a video clip saying, "I, Avi Mandel, just got kicked off a plane because I wasn't wearing my mask in between my bites while I was eating."
Mandel told WBZ he was rebooked on the next flight to Florida Monday morning but won't fly Southwest again any time soon.

"It was absurd," he told the station. "The way I was treated was absolutely absurd. It was crazy, and it wasn't fair."

Mandel added to WBZ that "there was no warning of it, there was no explanation, there was nothing. It was just a matter of, like, 'I don't like you; get off the plane.'"

After he emailed Southwest, the station said he learned that a new federal mask mandate went into effect in February requiring passengers to wear face masks at all times — including "in between bites."

"If I knew this rule ahead of time, I would have happily listened, but I had no clue," Mandel told WBZ.
The Transportation Security Administration told the station that airline passengers can remove masks while eating, drinking, or taking medications — but they must put them on between bites and sips and cannot leave them off for "prolonged periods."

Mandel maintained to WBZ that the rule that got him kicked off the flight wasn't addressed beforehand.

"I think it could be handled a lot better, and I think the rule could have been placed better," he told the station. "I always do follow the rules. I'm on their plane, I get it. But this was not a rule I knew of, and it wasn't explained to me. I didn't see it anywhere at that point, so to me, it wasn't a rule that I was breaking. Had I known, I obviously would have done it differently, but you got to tell someone the rule in order for them to follow it."

A Southwest spokesperson told WBZ in a statement that while the airline regrets "any inconvenience caused, the face covering policy is communicated throughout the booking and check-in process, and it's the responsibility of their crew to enforce federal regulations."

Baltimore County Man Says He Was Kicked Off Southwest Flight For Not Wearing Mask While Eating Twizzlers
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They should only require masks for people who haven’t been vaccinated. The latest CDC statistics show that if you have had both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and a couple weeks have passed for antibodies to develop, your chances of catching COVID from someone are about 2.5%. Your chance of a case leading to death are only 0.004%. That’s not very dangerous. And if you don’t have COVID, you can’t pass it on.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by cj1040

Your body... your choice....if you don't like wearing a mask then you REALLY wont like wearing a ventilator....so unfair and selfish of you to depend on the rest of us who are trying to mitigate this pandemic by getting vaccinated while you refuse to cooperate. So many intelligent talented people have died from this virus including several medical professionals who risked their lives to help others. SHAME ON YOU

If my high school journalism teacher were reading this, she would say, "Write without obvious bias, your words mean more without criticism. You may be right, but you will change no minds and just make people mad."

She would have written the above like this;

Many people do not want to continue wearing masks although the scientists instruct us to continue even if we are fully vaccinated. I hope that people will continue listening to those who have our best interests in mind, although it appears they change their views. The virus is changing and it takes a long time to get all of the information and all of the ramifications of this truly earth stopping event and to make sense of them and to give valid and helpful information to the public. This pandemic, with this virus is something that this group of people now living have not encountered. Many are frightened and that makes them angry. Many have experienced hearing and watching conflicting views by people in charge of this country. Many truly do not know WHO to trust and so they trust fewer and fewer people. It is understandable that people react in different ways and a lot has to do with the groups they align with and trust.

That is what Mrs. Yates would say, God rest her soul.

I say that making people madder is not helping.

P.S. I know that the OP of this thread has had both shots and so has his wife. I also know he is a kind and considerate person.

[jmpalladino]

Originally Posted by Happinow

It’s almost laughable. They can seat you elbow to elbow, but you can’t eat or drink like a human. Feel like you are ruled by Hitler.....

Eat before the flight! If you can't prepare yourself for a flight in the continental US, ie., no more than 4.5 hours, and eat before you get on board ( except for those with medical conditions), maybe you should travel in a private mode of transportation. That way you can do whatever you want. They should ban all food on flights period, Virus or no virus, other than what they provide on the plane. There is nothing worst than the smell of the food people bring on the plane. Sometimes it is just downright disgusting. Eat what you want, but before you enter the plane.