Trump administration clashes with airline officials over coronavirus

The US aviation industry and the Trump administration are in a pitched battle over the response to the coronavirus pandemic, three sources familiar with recent calls between officials from several government agencies and US airlines have said. In a series of contentious conversations, agency officials and aviation executives have clashed over the administration's demand that airlines collect new kinds of data from passengers to help officials track potential virus carriers. Airlines say they can't meet that demand right away -- a claim some administration officials say they don't believe, according to several sources say the calls have deteriorated so badly that agency officials have issued threats, spat expletives and accused airline executives of lying. It is an "epic battle," said one source. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials have even threatened recommending that the administration try to ground planes in the US if they can't get the passenger data, according to one source. The administration officials' vitriol has left airline officials in a state of "shock and disbelief," one source said. Government officials have displayed "a lot of ignorance about what is possible," the source said. Others familiar with the talks contend the airlines seem to be acting unreasonably by not providing the data more quickly.<br/>