U.S. airlines mandating facial coverings for all passengers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The largest U.S. airlines are moving rapidly to mandate facial coverings for all passengers, with Southwest Airlines Co and Alaska Airlines on Friday joining other major airlines in imposing the measure to address the spread of the coronavirus and convince reluctant passengers to resume flying.

United Airlines , Delta Air Lines Inc and American Airlines Group Inc , along with the smaller Frontier Airlines, which is owned by private equity firm Indigo Partners LLC, announced Thursday that they would require facial coverings next month following JetBlue Airways Corp . Some airlines, like Southwest, will provide masks if passengers forget to bring them on board as they announce new cleaning procedures to reassure consumers.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)