Hong Kong third wave: FedEx pilots want US company to suspend flights to city, say Covid-19 measures present ‘unacceptable risk’

The association representing FedEx aircrew has called on the US company to suspend flights to Hong Kong, saying the city’s stricter measures against a third wave of Covid-19 infections exposes them to “unacceptable risks”. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) made the move after three FedEx pilots, who tested positive for Covid-19, were “forced” into hospital for treatment. Close contacts were also put in government quarantine camps “under extremely difficult conditions”, it said. Forced hospital admissions and isolation for close contacts are standard procedure for Hong Kong’s health authorities when handling positive virus patients and close contacts. “In Hong Kong, recent government mandates regarding Covid-19 testing have created unacceptable conditions for pilots, including our Hong Kong-based pilots and their families,” Dave Chase, chairman of the FedEx ALPA Master Executive Council, said. “Not only do these situations pose unacceptable risks to our pilots’ safety and well-being, but they also create added stress and distraction for flight operations.” He said pilots had to share a bathroom with “as many as five patients” at public hospitals, and the quarantine facilities have “very sparse provisions”. Between July 8 and July 28, 17 aircrew tested positive for the virus, and of those, eight were pilots.<br/>