If the cheers that broke out on planes as passengers learned they could finally remove their masks weren’t sign enough, the Biden team’s indecision about appealing federal Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle’s decision striking down the CDC’s transit mask mandate is further proof the ruling was long overdue.

Hallelujah!

Mizelle found the “arbitrary and capricious” mask mandate “exceeds” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s authority, and also ruled that the CDC illegally denied the public a chance to comment on and criticize its mask rule.

She didn’t add (since it was irrelevant to the legal case) that it stopped making any sense long, long ago. There was never any science behind the claim in President Joe Biden’s January 2021 executive order that mask-wearing “can mitigate the risk of travelers spreading COVID-19,” followed two weeks later by the CDC rule. No authoritative scientific studies have ever found hard evidence that everyday masks stop the spread of the disease.

All the mandate did was make folks uncomfortable (and needlessly fearful) and trigger fights aboard planes. Thank goodness the courts have stepped up to rein in the madness, as they did on the CDC’s “no-sail” order to the cruise-ship industry, Biden’s never-ending ban on evictions and his private-worker vax mandate.

Some COVID hysterics won’t let go: A few airports still insist on masking. In New York, the MTA is requiring them on subways, buses, Metro North and the Long Island Rail Road because Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Health Department still hasn’t caught up with reality.

Nor has Hochul herself, who offered this anti-science tweet: “Do your part to keep your neighbors safe. . . wear a mask in settings where required, like on public transit and in health care facilities.”

Judge Mizelle noted that if Congress had intended to grant the CDC the authority it claims, the agency’s power “would be breathtaking.” Indeed, if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that government leaders don’t get limitless power — and shouldn’t, as their orders (e.g., for sweeping lockdowns or sending COVID patients to nursing homes) have done tremendous harm to both the economy and public health.

The New York Times is pointing to “experts,” like Saskia Popescu, who call the ruling “very, very concerning” as COVID cases again start to rise. Even though COVID hospitalizations and deaths are still very low — and, again, there’s scant evidence masks could curb the spread.

Good for Mayor Eric Adams for so far resisting such lunacy, despite the scaremongering. Last Friday, Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said the city should consider reinstating mask mandates for schools and vaccine proof for places like restaurants if the risk level reaches “medium,” which he expected to happen this week. Adams should demand guidance that’s more based on science — or find a new health commissioner.