The FAA and CDC plan to update guidance for airline flight crews about dealing with the coronavirus pandemic amid concerns from pilots, but regulators are not mandating new safety requirements. FAA administrator Steve Dickson said in a letter to a pilots union released Friday the updated guidance "should further strengthen language, provide clarification, and reflect the growing understanding of presymptomatic/ asymptomatic transmission, as well as new guidance on face coverings." Last week, ALPA urged the administration to require airlines to fully comply with CDC guidelines on flight deck cleaning and disinfecting. The union said at least 3 ALPA pilots have died after contracting the coronavirus and 250 of its members have tested positive. <br/>
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US airlines are estimated to be sitting on more than US$10b in travel vouchers that should have been cash refunds from canceled flights, a group of senators released Friday. Many US airlines are cancelling between 60% and 80% of their flights, and under federal law passengers on those flights are entitled to full refunds, senators Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal said. "However, many airlines have been obfuscating this right by offering travel vouchers as the default option, requiring passengers to take burdensome steps to request refunds instead," they said. "The airline industry received its US$50b taxpayer bailout, so the least it can do is offer full refunds--without forcing customers to jump through hoops," said Consumer Reports aviation adviser William McGee. <br/>
India’s Aviation Ministry has asked airlines to take travel bookings only after a final decision on lifting or easing restrictions on domestic and international flights is announced. “The Ministry of Civil Aviation clarifies that so far no decision has been taken to open domestic or international operations,” minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a tweet late Saturday. It wasn’t immediately clear if it was a binding order or an advisory. The country is currently in the midst of a nationwide lockdown until May 3 to control the spread of coronavirus infections. There’s been no clarity so far if flights, especially international, will be allowed even when the lockdown is lifted. Airlines are now selling domestic and international tickets for flights starting from May 4. <br/>