Airlines balk at US push for more traveller data in virus hunt

The Trump administration and US airlines are clashing over how to collect and disseminate contact information for travellers entering the country as the government steps up efforts to track the coronavirus. The dispute spilled into the open this week ahead of a White House meeting Wednesday between VP Mike Pence and airline executives. Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services and CDC instructed carriers to divulge each traveller’s name, email and US address, plus two telephone numbers. The airlines say they often lack all five pieces of data on their customers -- especially for those who purchased tickets abroad or through a third-party, or those who transferred from another airline because of interrupted travel plans. About 26% of passengers don’t have a phone number in their travel record and 44% don’t have an email, according to Airlines for America, a lobbying group. “It’s clear to me that the government is going to require the collection of this information,” Sharon Pinkerton, senior VP of legislative and regulatory policy at Airlines for America, said Tuesday. “It is not clear to me how they are going to require it.” Another proposed change for “contact tracing” would be for airlines to ask US citizens returning from abroad for an address when they return to the country. Such a requirement is spurring privacy concerns among US airlines, Pinkerton said. The question is already part of what Customs and Border Protection asks foreign travellers, but no enforcement mechanism exists if the response isn’t truthful. The airlines have suggested that the US establish a website or new mobile app to require submission of all five pieces of contact data, as Singapore and South Korea have done, Pinkerton said.<br/>