For the same reason you stand 6ft apart while boarding but sit elbow to elbow in the plane. It's just a humiliation ritual.
I used to enjoy flying (apart from dumb TSA), but the new ritual is a bridge too far for me. Unless I have to (someone close to me would have to be on the brink of death and too far for me to drive to visit…), I will not fly again until they drop this nonsense. Not to mention I have a kid they would dare to mask too. Neither my kid nor I have ever worn a mask. I’m not about to start just for a “nice vacation”. Unfortunately my husband has been coerced in the past for his job, so he’s not been able to draw the line as far back as I can.
Good news! TSA is behind the mask mandate, and they just extended it again.
https://news.yahoo.com/tsa-extending-mask-mandate-domestic-100050477.html
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