And, just days before the CDC announced the change, the airline industry united to press for a shortened quarantine timeframe, saying a 10-day isolation requirement may “exacerbate personnel shortages and create significant disruptions to our workforce and operations.” Indeed, U.S. airlines have had a raft of flight cancellations as the busy holiday travel season crashed into the rise of the virulent Omicron variant.
“As an industry, we stand ready to partner with the CDC to make scientifically sound policy decisions and work with you to collect empirical data necessary to appropriately monitor any guideline modifications,” Airlines for America President and CEO Nicholas Calio said in a letter addressed to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.
Delta Air Lines, the first to request the change to a five-day quarantine period, also noted that current guidance “was developed in 2020 when the pandemic was in a different phase without effective vaccines and treatments.”
Though their messaging to the administration came to a head last week, airlines have been lobbying to shape Covid-19 quarantine protocols for far longer.
For months, that outreach has cast a wide net, from Congress to the Executive Office of the President. According to publicly available disclosures, Airlines for America — whose members include the largest U.S. airlines as well as cargo giants FedEx and UPS — reported outreach to the CDC, Executive Office of the President, Congress and federal agencies on Covid-19 quarantines, among other issues, during the last three quarters.
Earlier this year, UPS had lobbied Congress and federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, to exempt crew members from quarantine and testing requirements. Hawaiian Airlines and American Airlines also reported outreach to the Executive Office of the President, Congress and federal agencies on a host of issues that included quarantines. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, which flies a bulk of…