US airlines blast possible Covid-19 test requirement for domestic travellers

Requiring Covid-19 tests for US domestic air passengers would be unnecessary, complex and impractical – or as one Southwest executive puts it, “a real goat rodeo”. That phrase means a situation that is exceedingly chaotic and unmanageable, even hopelessly messy. The US government does not currently require negative Covid-19 tests for passengers travelling domestically, though it does require tests for passengers flying to the USA from abroad. However, in recent days a director at the US CDC said his agency was “actively looking at” a domestic-travel testing requirement. “That could be a real goat rodeo, as we say here in Texas,” Southwest president Tom Nealon says Thursday. “It’s a really challenging thing for customers to navigate… if it’s not done consistently across the country,” Nealon adds. “Where our emphasis needs to be is on… getting the country vaccinated, and I would hate for us to take our eye off that ball”. Southwest CE Gary Kelly calls Covid-19 tests for domestic travel “wholly impractical”. <br/>