Southwest Airlines urges Biden administration to not require COVID tests for domestic flights
Another carrier CEO has encouraged the government to not make Covid testing required for homegrown flights.
Southwest Airlines Co’s. Chairman and Chief Executive Gary C. Kelly sent a letter routed to President Joe Biden on Tuesday to request that his organization “shun forcing any government command to require a pre-flight COVID-19 test for air travel inside the United States.”
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The letter was sent because of an assertion made by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who as of late said that there is an “functioning discussion” going on with the U.S. Habitats for Disease Control and Prevention about possibly commanding Covid tests before homegrown trips as an approach to battle the pandemic.
Notwithstanding, Kelly’s thinking for being against COVID-19 testing before homegrown flights originates from the extra costs it would need to do as such, which could unfavorably influence clients who don’t approach testing assets.
He additionally composed the pre-flight testing for homegrown travel would strain Southwest’s “restricted public testing limit” that “is now battling to fulfill need, particularly for individuals of restricted methods or those in supposed ‘testing sweets.'”
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The CEO continued to observe that outside of the money that would be required to test all Americans before they load onto a flight, the request at whatever point passed could put “occupations at serious risk” and “lead to more joint efforts among Customers and Employees.”
Likewise, Kelly’s letter suggested that a request for COVID-19 tests before local flights may come exorbitantly late considering expanding inoculation rates and new Covid cases moving dropping. Data from the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard show positive cases have been on the rot since mid-January.
A representative from Southwest revealed to Fox News that the CEO’s letter was likewise shipped off senior authorities at the Department of Transportation, Department of Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Carrier association chiefs marked the letter on the side of Kelly’s position, including the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, the Transport Workers Union of America, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Southwest, like many other commercial airlines, has implemented health and safety measures that include enhanced cleaning procedures, HEPA filtration systems and mandatory face mask wear for staff and passengers along with social distancing.
Before Kelly’s letter was sent out, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian expressed criticism against coronavirus testing for domestic flights in an interview with the Associated Press on Monday.
“The level of travel that we are carrying domestically in the U.S. — not just Delta, but across the industry — would be substantially reduced from today’s already low levels if domestic testing was required,” he told the news outlet. “And we don’t have the facility or the technology or capabilities to be administering or monitoring domestic testing.”
