‘They have the emotional intelligence of a doorknob: Covid expert doctor calls out airline CEOs dismissing masks

Dr Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor University, called out airline CEOs who have spoken dismissively of the need for masks on planes in recent days.

“Why say this now when we have the most transmissible variant of all accelerating?” he said during an appearance on CNN. “I don’t know, some of these CEOs, they have the emotional intelligence of a doorknob. I don’t know why they would say that kind of thing.”

The CEO of Southwest Airlines had also been condemned by a former surgeon general after telling a congressional committee that face masks “don’t add much” additional protection for passengers onboard a flight.

Gary Kelly, the CEO of the Texas-based airline, said on Wednesday that masks “don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin,” citing the air filtering mechanism on board Southwest planes.

“The statistics, I recall, is that 99.97 per cent of airborne pathogens are captured by the [high-efficiency particulate air] filtering system”, he told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. “It’s turned over every two or three minutes”.

Describing the situation as being “very safe”, the airline boss went on to say that the “case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin” and that it was “high quality compared to any other indoor setting”.

Jerome Adams, a former US surgeon general, rebuked the comments made by Mr Kelly and American American’s CEO, who added that an ”aircraft is the safest place you can be.”

“It was irresponsible,” Mr Adams said in a CNN interview. “These folks are making record money right now because of these mask mandates. I was disgusted when I heard that.”

Mask mandates have divided many Americans, with reports of more than 5,000 unruly air passengers so far in 2021 – often as a result of Covid-related arguments.

Opposition to masks has also led to criticism of an executive order signed by US President Joe Biden in January – and in effect until March 2022 – requiring air passengers to wear masks.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says that a multi-layered mask is capable of blocking as much as 80 per cent of airborne particles – and significantly reduces the chance of Covid infection.

The transport committee hearing also discussed how US airlines had spent $54bn (£40bn) in federal grants as a result of Covid assistance. Air travel has largely rebounded since the lifting of localised restrictions.