Airlines, travel groups call for virus alert travel documents

U.S. airlines, joined by travel groups and labor, urged the Biden administration to take the lead in developing standards for temporary COVID-19 health credentials that would help reopen global travel by documenting vaccinations and test results.

The U.S. “must be a leader” in efforts already underway in other regions to implement such travel passports, groups including Airlines for America said in a letter Monday to Jeffrey Zients, the head of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 recovery team. It’s essential for the government to partner with carriers and the travel industry “to quickly develop” standards, they said.

Increasing numbers of vaccinations and slowing rates of disease in many countries are expected to trigger a surge in travel after many consumers spent a year staying close to home to avoid contracting the coronavirus. COVID-19 Health Certificates are seen as essential to reopening many nations that have imposed quarantines or other restrictions on travelers from other countries. The U.S. currently requires a negative COVID-19 test for those entering the country by airplane.

Members of the European Union also face increasing pressure from voters and businesses for a road map to end lockdowns and restrictions. The European Commission will unveil a proposal this month for a “Digital Green Pass” that will provide proof that a person has been vaccinated, recovered from COVID-19, or has received a negative test.

U.S. airlines carried an average of more than 1 million passengers a day in the past week, the highest nonholiday total since the COVID-19 pandemic began gutting travel demand in the country almost a year ago.

Sunday’s total of 1.28 million was the third highest since travel collapsed in mid-March 2020, according to data reported by the Transportation Security Administration.