STATEN ICELAND, NY – Potential plans to require a negative coronavirus test (COVID-19) on domestic flights have met fierce opposition from the travel industry.
In late January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it is currently doing so Consider requiring all domestic passengers to test negative for coronavirus before the start.
“We are actively looking into this,” said Martin Cetron, director of the CDC’s global migration and quarantine division.
“I think this is a really important part of our toolkit to fight this pandemic,” said Cetron, referring to stepped-up testing.
It is currently unclear how a test requirement for domestic flights would work or who would be tasked with enforcing it.
In the days since the idea was first launched, travel associations and air carriers have been quick to express their opposition, stating that air travel is not a significant spreading agent for the coronavirus and that the requirement would force the country to significantly improve its testing capacity.
On January 29th, Airlines for America, the industry trade organization for leading US airlines, along with several other travel organizations, wrote a letter To Jeffrey Zients, White House Recovery Team COVID-19 Coordinator, urging the administration not to impose test requirements on domestic flights.
“We are concerned about recent media reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are considering a requirement for pre-departure testing for domestic flights,” the letter said.
The letter references various studies that suggest that the risk of contracting coronavirus on a flight is already incredibly low, even without testing requirements.
A study conducted by the Harvard Aviation Public Health Initiative found that air travel is just as safe, if not safer, than other common activities like dining at a restaurant or shopping at the grocery store.
Another study conducted by US TRANSCOM found that “when wearing masks, there is a 0.003% chance that particles exhaled by a passenger will enter the breathing space of passengers seated next to them.”
The letter also references a data analysis by the International Air Transport Association which shows that despite 1.2 billion air travelers in 2020, only 44 cases of flight transfer were reported, many of which occurred before the mask requirements were implemented.
“Given the strong scientific evidence that the risk of COVID-19 transmission on board an aircraft is very low, we believe that a domestic flight testing requirement is not warranted,” the letter said.
While the studies cited in the letter indicate that the risk of the virus spreading on airplanes is small, data previously provided by New York City showed travel to be one of the main distributors of the new coronavirus.
In November, Mayor Bill de Blasio said contact tracers traced roughly 10% of all coronavirus cases in the city back to travel, although air travel was not specifically named as the main culprit.
Proponents of travel also note that a domestic travel test requirement would disproportionately hit low-income residents and those living in rural areas of the country.
“They may have less access to testing facilities, which could cause further job loss and economic damage to the worst-hit sectors of the economy that require air service to participate in the recovery,” the letter said.
Proponents also claim that a domestic test mandate would require a significant increase in testing capacity and potentially divert resources away from more pressing issues.
“For example, based on January 2021 data, a test requirement for domestic flights would require a 42% nationwide increase in daily test capacity,” the letter said. “While test production is expected to increase, there is no question that a mandate of this magnitude would divert public health resources away from more vulnerable populations such as nursing homes, medical facilities and schools.”
“Therefore, the costs and consequences of a domestic flight test requirement would far outweigh the potential benefits,” the letter said.
