The face mask requirement was recently extended through May 3.

*Updated on April 18, 2022:

In a letter sent to President Joe Biden on March 23, 11 CEOs of major U.S. airlines urged the President to lift the current federal mask mandate that requires masks in airports and on flights.

"We are encouraged by the current data and the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions from coast to coast, which indicate it is past time to eliminate COVID-era transportation policies," the letter reads. "However, much has changed since these measures were imposed and they no longer make sense in the current public health context."

The CDC recently extended the face mask requirement through May 3.

The letter goes on to say, "The science clearly supports lifting the mask mandate, as demonstrated by the recently released CDC framework indicating that 99 percent of the U.S. population no longer need to wear masks indoors. Several studies completed before we had the added layer of widespread availability of vaccines, including one from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and another from the U.S. Department of Defense, have concluded that an airplane cabin is one of the safest indoor environments due to the combination of highly filtered air and constant air flow coupled with the downward direction of the air."

The CEOs also reference the U.K., which lifted its airline mask mandate earlier this month.

Read the full letter to President Biden.

The CEOs include Ben Minicucci (Alaska Air Group), W. Douglas Parker (American Airlines), John W. Dietrich (Atlas Air Worldwide), Ed Bastian (Delta Air Lines), Scot Struminger (FedEx Express), Peter R. Ingram (Hawaiian Airlines), Robin Hayes (JetBlue Airways), Gary C. Kelly (Southwest Airlines), Scott Kirby (United Airlines Holdings), Brendan Canavan (UPS Airlines), and Nicholas E. Calio (Airlines for America).

What do you think? Will President Biden lift the mask mandate at airports and on flights? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.