FAA called out on COVID-19 safety measures
Call to action part of large movement
As Fedex transports supplies for the U.S. government's COVID-19 relief efforts, the head of its pilots union says regulators must do more to keep pilots safe during the pandemic.
Pete Harmon, chairman of the Fedex Express Master Executive Council, wrote earlier this month that the Federal Aviation Administration needs to require airlines to follow public health guidelines. He warned in a post for the Air Line Pilots Association that if too many pilots get COVID-19, the movement of critical goods “will grind to a halt.”
Since then, the Fedex pilots union has also asked its members to urge Congress to require that airlines follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on flight deck cleaning and sanitation, along with notifying employees of COVID-19 cases in their workplaces.
The call to action is part of a broader movement by the ALPA, which the Fedex pilots union is a member of.
“To the professional pilots of ALPA, the agency is yielding to powerful business interests and failing to protect the health and lives of airline pilots, their families, and the communities in which they live,” Harmon said of the FAA. “These guidelines should be the minimum required standards to operate safely in this new environment.”
The Fedex Master Executive Council knows of 19 Fedex pilots who have tested positive for COVID-19, with others awaiting test results or testing. Fedex pilot Paul Fox died from COVID-19 complications in April.
Due to the lack of enforcement, airlines can follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines they deem convenient, Harmon said. He did note that Fedex is among the airlines which “have begun to make improvements in complying with these public health guidelines,” but added that a uniform and mandatory standard enforced by the FAA is still needed.
FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a letter to the ALPA that it is “not a public health agency” and that “airlines are responsible for the occupational health of their workforce.” In a statement Wednesday, the FAA said it “has taken an active role” in safety discussions since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We will continue to engage with our interagency partners in discussions about protecting the health and safety of flight crews and the traveling public,” the agency said.
ALPA alleges airline safety shortcomings
Airline operators have had trouble getting personal protective equipment, cleaning airplanes and documenting airplanes that have been cleaned, according to Harmon. Mandating all the guidelines at together instead of having them implemented piecemeal will better protect pilots from COVID-19, he said.
“It's like a surgeon wearing a mask and gloves, cleaning the surgical site, and then operating with an unsterilized scalpel,” Harmon said. “Not mandating all of the guidance makes following any of the guidance little more than show to make people feel good.”
In a statement, Fedex said the “safety and well-being of our team members and our customers is our top priority.” The company said it continues to follow FAA and CDC guidelines, works with state public health departments on employee treatment and is implementing necessary safety measures.
“These measures include a robust health self-monitoring program that we are overseeing, to include requiring pilots to check their temperature twice a day, extensive aircraft and facility cleaning and disinfecting procedures, and provisions of (personal protective equipment) for each pilot,” Fedex said.
Union pilots across the country have flagged safety shortcomings at their respective airlines, according to an ALPA report released last week. The pilots and the airlines they work for were not identified in the ALPA'S report, but their complaints include inadequate cleaning and supplies, unclear or incomplete communication from their company and possible interactions with sick people.
“Specifically, we ask Congress to direct the FAA to mandate that airlines comply with CDC and FAA guidelines related to aircraft and flight deck cleaning and disinfection, personal protective equipment for flight crews, and employee notification of test-positive cases in the workplace,” said Joe Depete, ALPA president, in a letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Nearly 300 ALPA pilots had tested positive for COVID-19 and at least three have died, Depete said.
During pandemic, Fedex pilots fly for Project Airbridge
The call to action is part of a broader movement by the ALPA, which the Fedex pilots union is a member of.
Depete, a former Memphis-based Fedex pilot, called airline pilots “the backbone” of Project Airbridge, a federal government-managed public-private partnership that Fedex pilots play a crucial role in.
Through Project Airbridge, Fedex Express is delivering shipments of protective gear and other supplies for COVID-19 relief across the country. Fedex has a $60 million contract with the Department of Health and Human Services for COVID-19 relief efforts.
Supplies delivered from overseas manufacturers to the U.S. via Project Airbridge include more than 1.3 million N95 respirators, more than 921 million gloves and more than 91 million surgical masks. The Federal Emergency Management Agency handles distribution for the partnership. FEMA uses air cargo carriers like Fedex to speed up the transit of needed medical supplies to areas hardest hit by the pandemic, based on CDC data. FEMA covers the cost to fly in supplies from overseas.
Project Airbridge has completed 132 flights as of Monday, with 26 more scheduled. FEMA did not provide information on how many of those flights were via Fedex Express. The other transportation companies involved in Project Airbridge are UPS, Landstar and Radiant.
"Our country's airline pilots proudly serve on the frontlines fighting the COVID-19 pandemic — we're flying doctors, nurses, supplies, and equipment to the communities where Americans need them most," Depete wrote to the Senate committee.
Max Garland covers Fedex, logistics and health care for The Commercial Appeal. Reach him at max.garland@com mercialappeal.com or 901-529-2651 and on Twitter @Maxgarlandtypes.