Executives said the requirement would pose logistical challenges.
US airlines are resisting the possibility of testing the COVID-19 before domestic flights, after the Biden government said it was “actively looking to” make it a requirement.
“It would make us test Americans on planes that we all know are safe,” said American Airlines CEO Doug Parker during the operator’s fourth quarter earnings conference call.
Executives at Southwest and JetBlue agreed with that sentiment, explaining that a home test requirement would be very expensive and pose logistical challenges. Staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that the conversation was “ongoing” and that the agency was “actively looking at it”.
The domestic tests would expand the government’s mandatory requirement for travelers to the United States, which went into effect on Tuesday. All travelers flying to the USA must now provide proof of negative COVID-19 test, taken no more than three days before the flight, or boarding will be denied.
In Thursday’s earnings conference call, American Airlines said that this new requirement has hampered demand for international short-haul flights, mainly to Mexico and other beach destinations in the Caribbean.
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said his airline would work with the government if it required domestic testing, but expressed concern that such a requirement would halt already volatile demand.
“We certainly want to make sure it is something that will not restrict demand,” said Parker. “Nobody has officially told us about doing this – and if they do, we will do our best to make sure we emphasize how safe it is to fly.”
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said in a call to investors that the focus should be on continuous vaccine implantation and asked, “why choose air travel?”
“First of all, we don’t have adequate testing capacity for the country,” said Kelly. “It is simply unrealistic to expect that we can run tests on a larger scale efficiently and effectively.”
JetBlue President Joanna Geraghty echoed this point in a results conference call on Thursday, saying, “Frankly, we are concerned that this would really reduce the ability of some people who legitimately need to be tested for health reasons.”
This also occurs when public health officials are warning Americans against travel. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden and the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, said: “It is not a good idea to travel, period.”
“If you absolutely have to travel and it is essential, then obviously, it would be necessary to do that. But we don’t want people to think, because they have been vaccinated, that other public health recommendations just don’t apply,” said Fauci during a city council. CNN.
Mina Kaji and Sam Sweeney of ABC News contributed to this report.