Flight attendants distribute refreshments to a packed Delta Airlines flight from Ronald Regan National Airport to MinneapolisSaint Paul International Airport on Friday, May 21, 2021.
Kent Nishimura | Los Angeles Times | beautiful pictures
A trade group representing major US airlines is calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to halve the recommended isolation period for individuals with a mutated Covid-19 illness, and at the same time Current 10-day warning could lead to labor shortages and flight disruptions.
“As with health care, police, fire and public transport, an increase in Omicron can
Exacerbating staffing shortages and creating significant disruption to our workforce and operations,” Airline for America CEO Nicholas Calio wrote in a letter to the CEO. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Thursday.
The letter, which echo what Delta Airlines wrote to Walensky on Tuesday, highlighting the aviation industry’s growing concern about the impact of the guidelines as Covid cases, particularly the omicron variant, increase across the country.
Airlines for Americas represented American, United, Delta, Southwest, FedEx, UPS and others.
The CDC did not immediately comment.
Not everyone in the industry agrees with this push. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, the country’s largest union of flight attendants, wrote to Walensky on Thursday argue in favor of current recommendations.
“Flight staff with crew members may still have symptoms, infection, or both, and shortening the necessary isolation period will only make the situation worse,” Nelson wrote. . She said while the majority of flight attendants are vaccinated, some may not have been given a booster shot.
Nelson continued: “Flight attendants should return to work until they have tested negative and are free of symptoms. “We don’t know if 10 days represents that ‘magic number’, but we don’t see a reason for the reduction in days at this time.”
