Airlines and other tourism-related businesses are pushing the White House to draw up a plan within the next 5 weeks to boost international travel and eliminate restrictions that were imposed early within the pandemic.
More than two dozen groups made their request in a letter to the White House on Monday.
They want people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to be exempt from testing requirements before entering the United States. They also want the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to say that vaccinated individuals can travel safely.
The groups say those and other steps will pace up the recovery of the travel and airline industries, which have been devastated by a plunge in travel during the pandemic.
U.S. air travel is already picking up. More than 1 million individuals have passed through U.S. airport checkpoints every of the last 11 days, with Sunday’s complete topping more than 1.5 million for the first time in more than a yr. Passenger traffic is still below 2019 levels, however.
The organizations calling for relaxing international restrictions include the chief trade group for the nation’s largest carriers, Airlines for America, the U.S. Travel Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. They set a May 1 target for the government “to partner with us” on a plan to rescind year-old restrictions on international travel.
The groups cited the recent decline in reported new cases, hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19 in the US. Nearly 45 million Americans, more than 13% of the population, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to CDC figures.
“The time to plan for and chart a defined roadmap to reopen international travel is now,” they wrote in a letter to White House virus-response coordinator Jeffrey Zients.
The White House didn’t comment but referred to remarks by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Monday. Walensky mentioned the health agency is working on new guidance for people who are vaccinated, however raised concern about recent will increase in new reported cases of coronavirus in lots of European nations.
“If we look at our European friends, we simply don’t want to be at this rapid uptick of cases again, and that is very possible that that could happen,’ she mentioned. “We’re so close to vaccinating so many more individuals …. Now is not the time to travel.”
The airline industry hopes to see the lifting of broad restrictions on travel between the United States and Europe, China and other areas that former President Donald Trump imposed last spring to curb spread of the virus. Most non-U.S. citizens who’ve been in Europe are barred from entering the nation.
The airlines have been lobbying the Biden administration to take a leading role in developing standards for so-called vaccine passports that would allow individuals to travel freely if they are vaccinated and pass a test for COVID-19. The European Union last week proposed a digital health certificate, but the U.S. administration has demurred, saying it’s up to the private sector.
In the past yr, the federal government has approved $65 billion to help airlines cover most of their payroll costs in exchange for keeping workers employed, plus billions more in low-interest loans. Most recently, President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion relief package that included $15 billion for airlines.