Domestic Air Travel Could Soon Require Covid-19 Vaccination or Negative Test

Up until this point, there has been no movement toward requiring air passengers traveling domestically to provide proof of vaccination or proof of a negative Covid-19 test prior to boarding a plane. That might change if Sen. Dianne Feinstein has her way. On Wednesday, Feinstein introduced legislation that would require passengers to present either proof of Covid-19 vaccination, proof of a recent negative Covid-19 test, or proof that you already had Covid-19 and recovered before you can board a domestic aircraft.

The move would come just in time for a busy holiday travel season and will surely cause some to reconsider their plans if it becomes law.

Sen. Feinstein announced her proposal this week in a tweet saying that the bill would help stem the tide of potential Covid spread which occurred during the winter season of 2020 as holiday travel reached its peak:

We can’t allow upcoming holiday air travel to contribute to another surge in COVID cases. Today I introduced legislation requiring passengers on domestic flights to be vaccinated, test negative or be fully recovered from a previous COVID illness.https://t.co/vVRHM5OiuV

— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) September 29, 2021

The bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to work with the FAA on creating a workable solution:

The bill, the U.S. Air Travel Public Safety Act, requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the FAA, to develop national vaccination standards and procedures related to COVID-19 and domestic air travel — and builds off the existing CDC policy that requires negative tests for international travelers entering the country. It would ostensibly require all airline passengers flying domestically to provide proof of full vaccination or a recent negative COVID test.

Many airlines, however, are not as enthusiastic as Sen. Feinstein is since they will be the ones doing the enforcing and putting more burdens on their own staff and passengers:

Airlines have already pushed back on any notion of enforcing a vaccine mandate for domestic travel, and so far the Biden Administration has stopped short of requiring vaccination proof for even international arrivals.

The biggest issue, the airlines say, is the logistics of enforcement at airports.

“Requiring vaccinations to travel and not requiring vaccinations to do anything else around the country isn’t something we’re looking to do,” said American Airlines CEO Doug Parker speaking to Kara Swisher at the New York Times last month. Parker added, “it wouldn’t be physically possible to do without enormous delays in the airline system.”

According to some business analysts within the travel industry, the move may not cause serious headaches but would certainly lead to some angry passengers who may have booked tickets before such a requirement was law:

Willis Orlando is a Flight Expert at Scott’s Cheap Flights.

“If it were to become law it really would just be kind of adding restrictions in the U.S. that already exist elsewhere in the world and that have been working pretty well to contain COVID,” said Orlando.

“I really don’t see any way where it would be a big problem although passengers may be a little bit upset based on what we’ve seen in the past in the U.S.,” he continued.

Airline tickets are usually purchased many months in advance, meaning that some passengers intent on traveling for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year may have already purchased tickets, not expecting they would have to show proof of vaccination or proof of a negative test. It’s unclear how airlines would deal with customers in those circumstances.

The ongoing battle over the mask requirement on domestic air travel has caused incidents of passenger unrest on flights and arguments over mask-wearing. Flight attendants have been on the front line of this battle and forced to be the ones who enforce the rules made by health bureaucrats in Washington, DC.

For the vaccination mandate, airlines would be the ones to verify a passenger’s status before they’re allowed to board a plane. This could lead to similar unrest at airport gates if and when passengers are denied boarding due to bad documentation or not adhering to the law’s requirements.

Passengers would be able to bypass the vaccine requirement by providing proof of a negative test, so the mandate isn’t as onerous as it could be. It’s unclear whether Sen. Feinstein’s bill has a chance at passing, however, the Biden administration has been hesitant to enact such a requirement through executive order but it has been considered in recent weeks. It’s also noteworthy that Dr. Anthony Fauci has voiced support for air travel vaccine mandates so even if Feinstein’s bill fails, the White House might press forward with its own domestic air travel vaccine mandate under authority through the FAA.