{"id":31608,"date":"2022-06-01T05:13:03","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T05:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/covid-19-us-airlines-travel-industry-push-for-an-end-to-pre-travel-testing\/"},"modified":"2022-06-01T05:13:03","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T05:13:03","slug":"covid-19-us-airlines-travel-industry-push-for-an-end-to-pre-travel-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/covid-19-us-airlines-travel-industry-push-for-an-end-to-pre-travel-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19: US airlines, travel industry push for an end to pre-travel testing"},"content":{"rendered":"
They also say the requirement is harming the US economy. <\/span><\/p>\n “Quite frankly, the only impact the pre-departure testing requirement is having is a chilling effect on an already fragile economy here in the US,” Airlines for America chief Nick Calio said in a statement after the meeting. <\/span><\/p>\n Roger Dow of the US Travel Association said in a separate statement that while restrictions on many other businesses have been lifted, “the travel industry remains disproportionately harmed by this requirement.” <\/span><\/p>\n “Other countries with whom we directly compete for global travelers have removed their pre-departure testing requirements and reopened their tourism economies, putting the US at a serious competitive disadvantage for export dollars,” Dow said. <\/span><\/p>\n Airlines for America said its members – including American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines – believe lifting the requirements would lead more foreigners to visit the US. <\/span><\/p>\n The trade association says that in mid-May, domestic travel came within 7 percentage points of pre-pandemic levels, but international travel lagged at 14% below normal. <\/span><\/p>\n The industry has criticized the policy as out of date for months. <\/span><\/p>\n Some medical experts have also questioned the policy’s utility.<\/span><\/p>\n Testing international arrivals doesn’t make much sense to Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.<\/span><\/p>\n CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n Top image: Airline passengers walk through San Francisco International Airport on April 19 in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (CNN) – White House officials met Tuesday with travel industry officials, who pressed the Biden administration to end its requirements that vaccinated international travelers take a coronavirus test before flying to the United States. Airlines for America, representing major US air carriers, and the US Travel Association, representing the broad travel and tourism industry, said …<\/p>\n