A CDC official has said that the Biden Administration is actively considering requiring a negative Covid-19 test for domestic flights and not just for international flights to the U.S. which is now in place.
During its earnings call Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly pushed back asking, “Why pick on air travel?”
If you want to test people, test them, but test them before they go to the grocery store. Test them before they go to a restaurant. Test them before they go to a sporting event.
However American Airlines CEO Doug Parker says this just isn’t something on the immediate agenda. He told employees on Thursday at an internal event, a recording of which was reviewed by View From The Wing, that they haven’t been officially been informed that this is even under consideration, and “what I know is the regulators that would actually be talking to us about this aren’t talking to us about it.”
As of right now this rumor is the right word for it, and one that doesn’t seem to have any basis in reality based on the people we talk to on a regular basis, who would be talking to us if they planned to do it.
There’s concern about new variants of the virus that spread faster and could cause re-infection, although data remains limited on who may get re-infected or the extent to which re-infection is likely to lead to severe cases of Covid-19. That’s about the only plausible justification for limits on international travel, although restrictions have too many holes to be effective.
Domestic travel restrictions could help if the country were in a position to contain, rather than just mitigate, the virus. However placing restrictions on air travel alone would be insufficient to accomplish this.
In other words what these clowns are saying is that they know “sh*t about absolutely nothing” oh but the vaccine might not work…..we have no evidence that it doesn’t but let’s just put that out there to scare everyone. A lot of things “might” not happen…..the sun “might” not come up tomorrow either. They’re already building their back up plans to keep this charade going. When’s Biden signing the universal basic income executive order? That’s what they really want….then we can close everything down permanently……lol now we have a “California varient” too….oh is it still racist to call diseases based on where they originated from?
Is Gary Kelly really that dumb to make those comparisons? Why not instead be tested where he suggested? Let’s see, you can avoid people at a supermarket, particularly if you go at off peak times; you can choose another table at a restaurant or simply turn around because you don’t like the number of people there; in Miami they will be testing people to see a basketball game, which should set him an example. This guy wants everybody else to deal with the problem, which is pretty much the American way right now, illustrating how our selfishness and stupidity has kept us from doing well like Australia. I suppose it’s just easier to point fingers than accept responsibility.
Apologies, italics gone wild.
Sabotaging international travel is wrong, whatever the reason is – xenophobia (Trump) or virtue signaling (Biden).
Funny how everyone is giving the Bi.. Harris/Pelosi Administration a pass on this. Had it been 45, there’d be pitchforks screanin & riots everywhere.
CDC wouldn’t have said it publicly if it weren’t on the table.
Good bye airline, hotel, car rental, and everything else that touches the travel industry.
Soon: Masks required when you set foot outside your door. Cops will pull you over if driving without a mask. You can be arrested if you are in your backyard without a mask or if you go out to get the mail without a mask. People will be encouraged to report on their neighbors.
Next steps: double or triple masking. Random police stops for ID and to ascertain whether your trip is essential. State border checks – borders closed: cannot drive to another state without a negative test. Huge lines on highways.
Disagree? Tell me: where is the exit ramp to any other outcome on our current trajectory?
How do we back out of masks forever? All they have to say is ‘the next corona virus could happen any day’. And they will because not saying that will be defined as unsafe. And safety is mandatory now: safety above all, including freedom, the right to earn a living, the right to free movement, and the right to free speech and assembly. All those things are gone and we have safety instead.
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
We have not learned. We are losing the republic right before our eyes.
I’m looking forward to mandatory ANAL Covid testing.
Don’t believe it…look at China. They’re all into it now.
Maybe somebody can make an anal probe you sit on outside of every office/grocery store.
And you can wear FOUR masks too just for the thrill. Yup..find that in NBC News.
Well, Gary, you now have the blog….that is the site of the right wing extremists! Thought leader? Looney tune, organizer? LOL!
@Christian – the guy is trying to protect his business and industry. This would drive it further into the ground. If someone isn’t comfortable flying in this environment, don’t! Why is that such a difficult concept? Because people are doing it safely.
Domestic travel requirements for pre-flight testing could help against the pandemic even if the country were only in a position to mitigate the spread of the virus. For one thing, the testing requirement increases the costs of traveling and that increased cost reduces how many people get out of their local/regional bubbles (and or get into someone else’s local/regional bubble).
Domestic air travel spreads the virus too, and that spread via travel may have the adverse consequences of making mitigation more difficult, no less so when variants are in the picture. And even without variants in the picture, anything that reduces mobility volumes and away social interaction — no matter how fleeting — offers an opportunity to make management of the situation easier.
If you think that domestic travel has no consequences for spread of communicable diseases which already have domestic community spread and/or which already have lots of domestic clusters, just look into the history of how the spread of STDs and travel are related.
quasimodo,
Wearing multiple masks can be a bad idea, air flow issues being what they are and air flow issues having consequences even when the fit of a mask is otherwise decent in helping to protect the wearer of the mask and others from this virus.
Since you’re “looking forward to mandatory ANAL Covid testing” — and your mentioning of that seems to give you your jollies — no one here is going to stop you from seeking out your jollies that way. Let VFTW know if you managed to get tested that way and how it worked for you.
@GUWonder
I was totally being sarcastic! U too?
🙂
Even ONE mask doesn’t work. The #1 thing the media/pharma doesn’t talk about is the impact of environment, things like sun UV power relative to skin color (Which explains Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, SE Asia, others) nor massive improvement in air quality this year (Which explains China) See other perspectives here:
Twitter account – IanmSC
is a nice account to follow to see seasonality / regionality.
Reddit – NoLockdownsNoMasks
Reddit – LockdownSkepticism
Reddit – NoNewNormal
Documentary – Vaxxed and website – Learn the Risk is nice too for anyone reading this. Those were eye openers.