Airlines struggle to impose mask rule on defiant travellers

Washington: The wearing of masks to protect against the coronavirus has become such a sensitive issue in the United States that airlines are struggling to impose the practice on defiant travellers in the enclosed environment of an airplane. Johannes Eisele, an AFP photographer, experienced the problem in person. He recently took his seat on an American Airlines flight from LaGuardia Airport in New York City -- then a coronavirus hot spot -- to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. He had a middle seat, wedged between two other passengers -- only one of whom was wearing a mask. As Eisele recounted it, "I asked him if he didn't have a mask. He said, 'Yes, I...