Joe Biden’s aircraft orders

One of new US President Joe Biden's first tasks in the Oval Office was to sign an executive order mandating the wearing of masks on all flights.

The executive order requires passengers to wear face coverings during interstate travel on planes, trains and buses.

Although airlines have imposed their own rules demanding passengers wear masks, the Trump administration had refused to make it a federal mandate.

Airlines and union leaders have been calling for federal intervention due to the sheer number of incidents of passengers refusing to follow the airlines' rules.

It was one of several executive actions specifically aimed at addressing the Covid-19 problem in the United States.

A Trump-era travel ban that was upheld by the US Supreme Court over two years ago is now no longer valid after the new President signed another executive order rescinding an outright ban on travellers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and other nations.  President Biden is proposing a review by State Department and Homeland Security leaders of current vetting procedures and information-sharing. He also ordered the resumption of visa application processing. Biden called the original bans discriminatory, saying “they have jeopardised our global network of alliances and partnerships.”

www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/21/executive-order-promoting-covid-19-safety-in-domestic-and-international-travel

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OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Barry Graham, Washington, DC

President Trump announced the end of the ban on travel from Europe and the UK. President Biden promptly reinstated it. So he lifted the ban designed to prevent terror (didn't the UK have a similar ban?) and reinstated one that wasn't doing anything useful now that there is a requirement for testing.

Simon Grigor, United Kingdom

Re. the photo caption, my understanding is that the two new Air Force Ones will not be spanking new ones off the Everett line, but two that were undelivered to Transaero, the Russian - some irony here - airline going bankrupt before they were delivered.