Airlines for America, an industry body, has argued that airplanes have very little risk of virus transmission due to high quality cabin ventilation systems, strict disinfection practices, and strict rules that require the wearing of masks. The industry has also argued that it has an important economic role to play and that further travel restrictions could hamper recovery.
“We remain confident that this multi-layered approach will significantly reduce the risk, and we are encouraged that science continues to confirm that the risk of virus transmission on board aircraft is very low.” said the group.
The first economic stimulus program that came into force almost a year ago, contain $ 50 billion in grants and loans to support them Aircraft industrywho was hobbled by the pandemic. In December, Congress approved an additional $ 15 billion in grants to employ airline workers. The relief bill passed by the Senate It includes an additional $ 14 billion for airlines on Saturday, a measure applauded from industry.
In a Monday letter to President Biden’s coronavirus response coordinator Jeffrey D. Zients, a coalition of travel and tourism trade groups asked to work with the White House on federal guidelines for temporary “health certificates” for viruses. This could be used to safely and consistently check test results or vaccination status. Such guidelines could also bring benefits beyond aviation, they argued.
“It could encourage wider adoption of procedures for reviewing test and vaccination records, from sports arenas to restaurants, business meetings, theme parks and more,” the group wrote.
Ms Psaki said during Tuesday’s briefing that the Biden government welcomed “ideas from the private sector and nonprofits” on how people could prove they are vaccinated, but that “our focus from the federal government is on getting more people get vaccinated, and that’s where we can make the best use of our resources. “
Currently, the Biden administration requires people to travel in the United States from another country to submit a negative virus test. At one point This year, administrators pondered a similar requirement for domestic travel, a measure the aviation industry opposed, saying it was unnecessarily restrictive and would harm an already ailing sector. The CDC said so in February was not recommended Testing on domestic travel “at this point in time”.
Bryan Pietsch contributed to the reporting.
