LaHood’s warnings are the latest case of the White House’s presence by allies and stakeholders to gain control of a metastatic pandemic that has increasingly dominated the administration and its goals. Last week, Biden announced it would implement an aggressive policy that would force federal workers and contractors to be vaccinated, in addition to requiring private companies that employ more than 100 people to vaccinate their employees or subject them to weekly testing. There was, however, no policy related to airline travel and the possibility of requiring travelers to try the vaccination before boarding.
Industry officials have resisted this requirement, saying it is not easy to implement and would require additional and costly infrastructure. And within the White House, there is concern that it may be heavy and only marginally effective in increasing vaccinations.
Among the larger airlines, there does not appear to be a consensual stance on mandatory vaccinations for travelers. Airlines are comfortable with the current state of the mask’s mandate, according to a pressure group close to the aerospace industry. But airlines have been distrustful of participating in what have become political debates over the coronavirus pandemic, the person said.
There are also questions about the role of the federal government in implementing the mandates. Civil liberties groups have raised privacy concerns over any centralized vaccine database maintained by the federal government. And that’s something the White House has previously said it would not support.
LaHood said airlines could also explore for passengers to prove proof of vaccination before boarding. He said some airlines will probably resist as they did when he was in administration and moved forward with the passenger rights statement.
“They retreated sharply, but we moved forward,” LaHood said. “The way I would do it is to convene all the CEOs of the airlines to a meeting, make them a Zoom call and say ‘look, we think this is another way to vaccinate the country and stop the spread of Covid.’ “And you just have to listen to them. But make the decision to move on. Don’t surprise them.”
White House officials say they have not ruled out any political initiative to help contain the pandemic. At the same time, discussions on airline policy have so far focused on international travel. When asked if a system involving domestic travel could be put in place, officials said they are now focusing on last week’s mandate policies, which they say are already a massive commitment to launch operationally. .
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki would not say whether the president supported national mandates for air travel. It would not delve into the level of debate on the issue within the administration.
“There is always a series of discussions about additional measures the federal government can take to protect us all from Covid, to reduce the spread,” Psaki said. “What we decided last week was to establish these mandates and the requirements on companies would have the biggest impact in helping to reduce the spread of Covid, protect more people and save more lives.”
This week, Biden chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said airline passenger mandates were a good idea, while White House Covid response team leader Jeff Zients to say there was nothing off the table and pointed to the actions that had already been taken as a fine. bounce mask requirements.
“We have a history … very strong that shows that we are pulling available levers to acquire vaccines and that we are not taking any action,” Zients said.
But White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told Pod Save America on Monday that he believes the most effective way to use vaccine requirements is in those in a more “permanent” situation, such as in a workplace, rather than adding a layer of bureaucracy that could penalize those who are already vaccinated.
“We want to weigh the number of people [who] … get vaccinated against the load of vaccines: you have to prove it every time you go on a plane, you have to wait in longer lines at TSA, “Klain said.” But I think it’s something that we will continue to watch as things move forward. “
Despite comments from Fauci and Zients, some stakeholders have said the administration has not held a meaningful debate with the airline industry about prioritizing the need for the domestic air travel vaccine. mandates.
Representative Eric Swalwell (D-California) said the resounding defeat of California government Gavin Newsom in an attempted withdrawal on Tuesday was a sign that Biden has the political backing to go harder on his terms, including domestic flights.
“We need to own the outrage,” Swalwell said. “We can’t do enough to get out of this pandemic hell.”
Surveys have also shown growing support for vaccination mandates in general, as well as specific support for vaccination mandates for airline travelers, which are already in place or being developed in other countries. Last month, Canada announced that in the fall, all air, train and cruise passengers should be fully vaccinated.
Australian airline Qantas said last week that it will require vaccination tests for all its passengers traveling internationally. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said that although the airline’s policy was still in place, it would only carry vaccinated passengers moving forward. “Because we believe this will be one of the requirements to show that you want to fly safely and reach those countries,” Joyce said during a Trans-Tasman Business Circle forum. “Hopefully this can happen for Christmas.”
U.S.-based airlines have not ruled out establishing policies that require vaccination testing to travel. And some are already encouraging travelers to use the technologies they have developed to help upload and share relevant information. American Airlines and United, for example, have ways in which passengers can hang vaccination cards, their origin and travel destination. But they do not need to show the status of the vaccine before boarding a plane, unless they are traveling to a country that requires the COVID-19 vaccine.
But private industry, in this case, seems to be waiting before the feds act. In a discussion with NPR, Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, described vaccine warrants for travelers as a “government problem,” but noted that the company has the means to expand a vaccination test standard.
“To do that, we would probably require some sort of government directive,” Kirby said Friday. “We have prepared ourselves with technology to be able to load vaccine cards and track them and apply it if the government decides to go in that direction.”
Pandemic-related restrictions on airline travel are an expensive proposal that has annoyed the Biden administration before. In July, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she was in favor of removing some of the restrictions imposed on international travelers, a sentiment that two industry lobbyists said the White House considered independent.
Vaccine warrants against airline travelers can also cause potential harm to the end result of the airline industry. On the one hand, airline bookings have declined. The Covid-19 Delta variant effectively halted an incipient recovery in reserves for the U.S. airline industry, with growth slowed during the summer months at a time when airlines were trying to return to travel levels. of 2019.
But if mobile operators have data systems, more U.S. citizens could travel abroad. Airlines for America, for example, the commercial group of major U.S. airlines, has publicly called for a science-based framework to accelerate the reinstatement of international travel.
“U.S. airlines have been – and continue to be – strong advocates of a data-driven risk-based approach to safely resuming international travel as set out in the plan,” the president and director said. A4A executive Nicholas Calio in July.
“We have leaned towards science throughout this crisis and research has consistently determined that the risk of transmission on board aircraft is very low,” Calio said, citing data from an October 2020 study of the Harvard Aviation Public Health Initiative which concluded that being on a plane is safer than routine activities “like eating at the restaurant or going to the grocery store.”
However, the science of transmissibility on board aircraft is far from settled.
Several studies have shown that the risk of transmitting Covid on board aircraft is low, citing the powerful air filtration systems of aircraft and the fact of wearing a constant mask on board. But other researchers have found apparent cases of widespread transmission in airplanes. In addition, a CDC study last year that modeled ways to reduce on-board transmissibility found that blocking middle seats could reduce the spread of Covid by up to 57%, although that study examined those that they wore no masks.
“The science is clear: it’s time, if time does not pass, for the U.S. government to take action and reopen travel between the United States and low-risk countries,” Calio said.
Laura Barron-Lopez contributed to this report.