TYLER, Texas — Local transportation hubs such as the Tyler Pounds Regional Airport, the East Texas Regional Airport and Tyler Transit joined other major carriers in making face coverings optional.
The easing of restrictions came after a federal judge ruled that airports and other public transits systems would no longer be required to follow a federal mask mandate.
Steven Thompson, the manager for Tyler Pounds Regional Airport, says his priority is to limit confusion among passengers by keeping the message consistent.
"I think you'll see us going to great lengths to ensure that we're all on the same page supporting this new directive," Thompson said. "It's kind of a 'one team one fight' as far as supporting the travel journey."
Thompson went on to say other guidelines, such as social distancing, will still be practiced within the airport for passenger privacy.
"It's always nice to have a little distance when you're traveling with passports licenses, identification, all the different cards you can have so we do see some value in continuing to encourage the social distancing aspect," Thompson said.
Most of the passengers CBS19 spoke to traveling out of Tyler Pounds said they were looking forward to the change.
"It just feels like more freedom," said Pat Robinson, who was traveling to Michigan. "We do want to obey whatever we're told to do, but it almost felt difficult to breathe after a while."
Kevin Ragan, who travels often, says he feels the change is "a good thing" but respects the choice of other riders who may feel comfort in riding with it on.
"It should be an individual choice," said Ragan.
Christa Wilson chose to mask up while waiting for a friend on an arriving flight. She says she is choosing to keep the mask on for now, for work purposes.
"I do have a job where I care for an elderly person so I have every intent of keeping him safe," explained Wilson.
Tyler transit released the following statement to CBS19 regarding the relaxed guidelines:
"Tyler Transit customers have told us that they love the fact they no longer have to bring a mask anymore to ride a bus. We are still encouraging riders to wear them if they would like to."