admin The US government may soon forward a regulation requiring a mandatory negative Covid-19 test result for domestic air travel. Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg stated that the Biden administration is considering a rule that would require negative Covid-19 test results for domestic air travel in the country.
The Policy
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said on Monday that screening US travelers for Covid-19 could be helpful. But she did not expand upon whether there are plans to test domestic travelers.Pete Buttigieg added to his statement stating, “There’s an active conversation with the CDC right now. What I can tell you is, it’s going to be guided by data, by science, by medicine, and by the input of the people who are actually going to have to carry this out.” He mentioned that the CDC was carefully analyzing all viable options in the meanwhile. The CDC has already mandated a negative Covid-19 test result for international travellers, US citizens, and residents entering the country. This rule came into operation from the end of January 2021.
Opinions on the Mandate
The US Travel Association, a national nonprofit industry body, hailed that rule for inbound travelers as “key to reopening international travel.”Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Airlines, called the proposal to implement domestic testing for air travel ‘impractical’. He cited that testing for domestic air travelers would take testing resources away from areas of greater need.He further added, “If anything, it’s going to keep people away from what they need to do in terms of starting to get back out for not just essential travel, but people need to start reclaiming their lives.”Industry body, Airlines for America, has also expressed concern about the possible testing requirement for domestic air travel. The opposition to this policy remains staunch. Airplane manufacturer Boeing is also opposed to mandating testing for domestic air travelers and said the federal government should pay for tests if the requirement is adopted. Boeing Commercial Airplane CEO Stanley Deal and Boeing Chief Aerospace Safety Officer Michael Delaneyin a letter to the White House Covid-19 Recovery Team stated, “Imposing such a burden on the already financially beleaguered airline industry has the potential for severe unintended consequences that will ripple across the entire economy,”
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