by Donald Wood
Last updated: 2:07 PM ET, Mon February 1, 2021
The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) has expressed concern about the repercussions of possibly requiring a negative COVID-19 test to board domestic flights.
ASTA sent a letter to White House COVID-19 Recovery Team Coordinator Jeffrey Zients on behalf of 22 other travel industry groups that shows the risk of coronavirus transmission on a plane was significantly reduced thanks to updated health and safety protocols.
Airlines in the United States have implemented multiple layers of protection, including facial-covering requirements, pre-flight health forms, disinfection protocols, hospital-grade filtration systems and more.
Research from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) showed only 44 cases of in-flight COVID-19 transmission have been reported out of the 1.2 billion airline passengers who traveled since the beginning of 2020.
As a result, the letter said, "a testing requirement for domestic air travel is unwarranted."
Trade industry organizations believe a pre-departure testing mandate reportedly being considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would also "divert testing and financial resources away from more pressing public health priorities."
Public health and economic data indicate domestic testing would disproportionately prevent low-income travelers and rural Americans in small communities from taking to the skies due to cost and less access to testing facilities.
The concern from ASTA officials and the industry as a whole is that these factors could lead to further job loss and economic harm to one of the most devastated sectors of the economy.
The U.S. Travel Association also says it opposes the idea of COVID-19 testing on domestic flights.
Travel insiders have come out in support of many aspects of United States President Joe Biden's Executive Orders, including the federal mask mandate for interstate travel and pre-departure testing for arriving international passengers.
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