Airlines urge Biden to Drop the Covid Test Requirement

I guess we'll see but our President likely has far more pressing issues to deal with right now?

(Editing to add, I'm not questioning the timing of your travel-related post at all, joeandrose! It's the airline leaders' timing that is a little off, IMHO.)

Kathy, yes you are certainly correct -- as I was posting this I was thinking the same thing.

Well the Senate did find time to pass a bill regarding Daylight Savings Time-even though it wouldn't take effect for almost 2 years.

We just returned from the RS Greece tour. For two weeks we followed the strict guidelines mandated by our tour contract. Then we flew home-- 3 flights in 19 hours. Until we arrived in Newark masking and distancing guidelines were enforced. Upon arrival in the US, however, we were packed into airport trains, repeatedly asked to remove our masks for passport checks (honestly--4x) and never asked to see a vaccination card. We were asked to share our test result once, and never were asked to show the testimonial of the veracity of our test results the airline had required. We find it difficult to understand why the test is required for entry to the US when testing and vaccination are not required for domestic air travel.
You are definitely safer from Covid in Europe.

Susan is right. Europeans take this far more seriously.

When regulations are enacted, they don't change back too easily, no matter how useless or even stupid. Change is not in the nature of bureaucrats, who are averse to risk and especially engaged in the art of 'arse' covering.
Believe it or not the following laws are still in effect:
- In Missouri, you cannot drive with an uncaged bear in your car.
- In Florida if parking an elephant at a parking meter, the elephant's owner must feed the meter.

@ Marc I'm stereotyping here, but I think people from Florida do not represent the mainstream of America when it comes to masking, etc. In my area of the country Masking was taken extremely seriously when it was required.

We just returned from Florida
I can count on one hand the number of masks we saw while there for 5 days
Unnerving because their vax rate is lousy
Same in SC, Georgia, NC
Couldn’t wait to get home

I do wonder what the impetus was for the airlines demanding this change now. Possibly soaring fuel costs are deterring some people from taking slightly more expensive flights.

Some of us are still wearing masks in Florida :-)
We are in the minority though.

Thanks Nadine

We just returned from Florida
I can count on one hand the number of masks we saw while there for 5 days

But how many elephants did you see at parking meters?

I am glad that the airlines are requesting this change. I don't think this is something that President Biden will (or should) put too much thought into at the moment but it certainly can go to the proper governmental departments for consideration.

Here's a link to the letter sent to the President...

https://news.delta.com/sites/default/files/2022-03/a4a_board_letter_to_president_biden.pdf

I did further research and discovered that the law requiring parked elephants to pay the parking meter is no longer in the books, therefore our Floridian friends can safely park their elephants without incurring any fines. They may have to pay for the entire parking meter if the elephant decides to pull it off the ground with his trunk.

In the course of that research I have however also discovered that in Florida it is still illegal for unmarried women to parachute on a Sunday, while men are not allowed to wear strapless gowns. All other gowns are ok.

No mention of the requirement to wear masks (with or without straps) during a pandemic.

@eric. Thanks for sharing that link.

Roberto, that’s awesome stuff

Thank you, Eric! Fingers crossed.

Worthy of note, are the mortality statistics significantly worse (if at all) in Fla, Ga, SC, Tennessee, NC, etc? I think not!
Makes you think doesn't it?
Leaving for Italy in 5 days, not looking forward to wearing a N-95 for 9+ hours, and I wore a mask nearly all day for over 35 years in my profession.

Do they require N-95’s on the international flights? Not just paper masks like on domestic flights?

Roberto, thanks for fun facts.😄 Must elephants in Florida be masked if they go into a restaurant?

are the mortality statistics significantly worse (if at all) in Fla, Ga, SC, Tennessee, NC, etc? I think not!

Covid death rate by State...

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109011/coronavirus-covid19-death-rates-us-by-state/

Just choosing one comparison between large, populous States, Florida roughly 50% higher than California.

Worthy of note, are the mortality statistics significantly worse (if at all) in Fla, Ga, SC, Tennessee, NC, etc? I think not!

Well, of the ones you mentioned, the lowest death rate per 100,000 seems to be in the state with the best plan for dealing with Covid, NC.

Don't put all areas of a state in one bunch. I'm in NC and the county I was in just recently removed the indoor mask mandate yet about half the people still wear masks indoors. The vaccination rate is also high.

The President will not spend much time on this. He's busy. He has aides who do all the research for him and he will take into account what they find as well as what the CDC recommends. And, of course, which decision will help his approval rating. (He is a politician.)

Just because the mask mandate disappears doesn't mean you can't wear one.

I'm going on a tour in three weeks. (Not RS). I just got notice that the rules regarding masks will be decided based on local ordinances. Proof of vaccination, and booster, must be shown. Considering there are ony 14 people on the tour, and it's a full size coach, I think we can all spread out.

We live in Georgia and hardly see any masks at all these days. Please drop the mask mandate and COVID Test Requirement.

On our recent flight to Italy with connection in Portugal, all flight attendants and 95% of passengers were wearing surgical masks.

Parts of Florida I visit, only 1% wear a mask.

Based on my observations, lab researchers, researching covid has a space suit on. Are we to believe n95 is to protect us?
Just saying....

Seems like false sense of security.....

In the link posted by Eric, it was interesting to see some of the states that had higher death rates than GA, FL, and SC.
My policy is the same as Bob(on the thread about the NY Times article on airlines' request) and I absolutely wear a mask when in the presence of my friend who has terminal cancer. Yes to vaccinations, no to masks, unless required, and then I comply without complaining.

I work in a hospital, so masks are the norm and vaccinations are still mandatory for us (at least in our County).
Having said that, only the N95 masks are (at least to a good degree) effective to protect you on a full airplane, but proper procedures should be used to don and doff them (don't touch the front, remove from face by pulling straps).
Wearing surgical masks will not protect you from infection, at most it will prevent you from infecting others if you are a carrier.
Wearing a N95 mask on the plane is actually useful to prevent infection from regular colds too, so it's not a bad idea to wear one in that environment, albeit certainly uncomfortable for 9-12 hours.
Once you are on the ground in Italy, use your judgement. Italy is likely to remove nearly all restrictions by the end of May. But if the pandemic is still ongoing with the new variant, you may want to protect yourself with a N95 masks in the most crowded indoor situations. At this point I would say that outdoors is reasonably safe without masks.

I'd like to add that in California we are not immune to strange laws still on the books. In the City of San Francisco it is still prohibited to walk elephants on Market Street, unless they are on a leash.
Where did all these elephants come from all over the US to have such laws?

Where did all these elephants come from all over the US to have such laws?

In olden days......like that late 1800's and early 1900's, when the circus came to town there was usually a parade to help publicize the circus. Of course, the elephants paraded along. And elephants do what elephants do. They may have misbehaved and the city officias wanted better law to control them.

Remember, it's not just people who have to wear masks while traveling:

https://rb.gy/1zmqm7