Confusion, anger, elation: Demise of travel mask mandate divides Americans, again

When asked if Americans should mask on planes, Biden says it's "up to them."

Brooke Tansley and her husband Scott Herrmann were aboard a Delta flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles on Monday with their two young children when the pilot told passengers over the loudspeaker that masks were now optional.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I think you're going to want to hear this. I have some really exciting news," Tansley remembers the pilot saying. "The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) has lifted the mask mandate. You can all take off your masks."

Tansley could hear scattered cheers and applause. She was stunned, then scared.

The couple had gone to extraordinary lengths to protect their kids who at ages 4-years-old and 8-months-old still don't qualify for a vaccine. Her youngest also can't wear a mask, and she had planned during her trip to meet up with a coworker who was immunocompromised. It was their first flight since the pandemic began.