US airlines push back against latest CDC advice
Airlines For America is keen to get people travelling again and believes that health and safety protocols in place in aircraft greatly reduce the risk of Covid transmission
Following a statement from the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), which urged vaccinated people to continue to avoid travel, US aviation industry group Airlines For America has insisted that the risk of catching Covid upon boarding a plane remains minimal.
“Every time there's a surge in travel, we have a surge in cases in this country,” CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky reasoned during a White House coronavirus response briefing.
But Airlines For America ‘remains confident that the layered approach of heavily filtered air in an aircraft and mandated mask wearing ‘significantly reduces risk’.
This is also a sentiment that the World Tourism Organization appears to share. In a recent report, it highlighted that one-third of global destinations remain closed to international travel, but that an approach based on the continuous reviewing of the latest data would be the best way to facilitate the responsible opening of tourism while supporting the jobs and businesses upon which millions of people depend.