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After a federal judge struck down a mask mandate for planes, buses and other modes of public transportation, at least one Whatcom County agency is awaiting further guidance before changing its policy.

At the Bellingham International Airport, the mask mandate is still in place inside the airport until there is official guidance from federal and/or state agencies, said Sunil Harman, aviation director for the Port of Bellingham. Harman said in an email to The Bellingham Herald he was informed Alaska Airlines will no longer require masks on its planes, but hadn’t heard of any decisions from Allegiant Air or Southwest Airlines as of 5 p.m. on Monday, April 18. Later in the evening Southwest announced it would make masks optional, while several media outlets have reported that Allegiant is also making masks optional.

The Whatcom Transportation Authority announced on Tuesday, April 19, that it will also make masks optional on buses. In an email spokeswoman Maureen McCarthy said the WTA will continue to provide masks and respect people’s choice to wear them. She noted that it will take a few days to remove all of the “mask required” signs from the buses.