(Original story from October, updated February 9.) How safe is it to fly? This remains a troubling question. The hopes of airlines for a rebound in travel after an initial collapse ran up against a resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 around the world starting in late 2020. Overall, the demand for flights fell in 2020 by a record 66%, as measured by the number of kilometers traveled by paying passengers, according to the International Air Transport Association. Quarantines and travel restrictions account for much of the slide, but in addition, would-be passengers continue to worry about being stuck in a cabin for an extended time with possibly infectious strangers. The evidence shows the risks aren’t negligible. Story looks at questions: 1. How many fliers have caught the virus? 2. Why is it hard to establish? 3. What can make flying risky? 4. What about airborne transmission? 5. Does it help to turn on the personal air vent? 6. Are airplane lavatories especially dangerous? 7. What are airlines doing to mitigate risks? 8. How does the availability of Covid-19 vaccines affect things?<br/>
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Democrats in the US Congress are to release a sweeping plan on Monday to provide more than $50b in additional assistance to US airlines, transit systems, airports and passenger railroad Amtrak and create a $3b program to assist aviation manufacturers with payroll costs, according to documents seen by Reuters and sources briefed on the matter. The $1.9t COVID-19 relief proposal will provide $30b to transit agencies, $14b for passenger airlines, $8b to US airports, $1b for airline contractors and $1.5b to Amtrak, the draft legislation says. US House committees are set to vote on the legislation on Wednesday. President Joe Biden had proposed $20b for struggling US transit agencies - and nothing for airlines - while Democrats had pushed for more transit help, citing the collapse in travel demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. US airlines have been awarded $40b in payroll support since March and airline unions had asked Congress for another $15b to keep thousands of workers on the payroll past March 31, when the current round of funding expires. The additional $14b will keeping nearly 30,000 airline workers on the job through Sept. 30.<br/>
The Biden administration is considering a rule that would require negative Covid-19 test results for domestic air travel, according to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Buttigieg mentioned the possible testing requirement for air travelers within the US on Sunday. "There's an active conversation with the CDC right now," Buttigieg said. "What I can tell you is, it's going to be guided by data, by science, by medicine, and by the input of the people who are actually going to have to carry this out." On Monday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said that screening US travelers for Covid-19 could be helpful. But she did not expand upon whether there are plans to test domestic travelers. "To the extent that we have available tests to be able to do testing, first and foremost, I would really encourage people to not travel," Walensky said. "But if we are traveling, this would be yet another mitigation measure to try and decrease the spread." The discussion follows a CDC rule that went into effect at the end of January requiring negative Covid-19 tests for international travelers, US citizens and residents entering the United States. The US Travel Association, a national nonprofit industry body, hailed that rule for inbound travelers as "key to reopening international travel." However, the group does not support a testing requirement for domestic air travelers.<br/>
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will quarantine for 14 days after a member of his security detail tested positive for Covid-19, department chief of staff Laura Schiller said. Schiller's statement says the agent has been in "close contact" with Buttigieg as recently as Monday morning. Buttigieg tested negative Monday and has not shown any symptoms, the statement said. Buttigieg has received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and Schiller said he will receive the second dose when he completes the quarantine period. An additional member of the security team will also quarantine due to close contact with the agent. Buttigieg said Monday that both he and the agent who had tested positive felt fine.<br/>
Two senior Boeing executives warned the White House that requiring COVID-19 tests before traveling on US domestic passenger airline flights could pose significant economic harms. “Imposing such a burden on the already financially beleaguered airline industry has the potential for severe unintended consequences that will ripple across the entire economy,” wrote Boeing Commercial Airplanes CE Stan Deal and Chief Aerospace Safety Officer Michael Delaney in a letter sent Friday.<br/>
There were 13,600 passenger flights around the globe on April 25, 2020—the lowest recorded number during the pandemic. It was an 86% drop in traffic compared to a few months earlier, according to travel analytics company Cirium. There was nowhere to go but up, up, and away. And yet, nine months later, Cirium estimates that 30% of the global commercial airplanes remain in storage. OAG, another aviation data and analytics company, reported that seat capacity remained at 50% in January 2021, compared with a year earlier. And new estimates from the IATA show that recovery will be slower than expected; rather than seeing a 50% rebound by the end of 2021, as previously anticipated, the trade body is now looking at a worst-case scenario of 13% improvement in passenger traffic, compared to 2020 figures. As a result, airlines are getting scrappy, shifting operations to wherever there may be demand. The CliffsNotes version: Leisure is in, business travel is out. But much like a rewritten route map, the ramifications for consumers span far and wide. Story has details.<br/>
Envoys from Britain and the EU Monday underscored their willingness to negotiate with the new US government to quickly resolve a 16-year dispute over aircraft subsidies that has triggered tariffs on both sides. EU Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis told a trade conference the dispute had gone on far too long, and China - which provided 100% subsidies to its aircraft industry - could soon be flooding the global market, which would pose a bigger threat. He said reaching an agreement and removing tariffs now in place on aircraft built by US planemakers Boeing and Europe's Airbus, as well as a range of other goods, would provide a boost to markets and send a strong message to workers in an industry that has been rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic.<br/>
Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith has responded with many reservations to calls for the government to provide soft loans as a lifeline for struggling airline businesses. The Export-Import Bank of Thailand (Exim Bank) has been tasked with devising a financial measure to help the airlines, but the bank has yet to submit its proposal to the Finance Ministry, said Arkhom. Providing soft loans to airlines or bringing such business loans under the Public Service Account means the Finance Ministry has to shoulder the difference of market interest and soft loan interest, he said. Airlines seemed to gradually recover before the second Covid-19 outbreak in Thailand emerged and further examination of each airline has to be made to assess the scale of impact, he said. It was reported in January that Exim Bank planned to propose a loan measure to the Finance Ministry in early February, aiming to beef up liquidity for crippled airlines to retain employees. The proposal emphasises helping airlines retain staff by offering financial liquidity through loans, said Pisit Serewiwattana, Exim Bank's president. The amount of loans will depend on the cost of hiring personnel for each airline, said Pisit. While most of the loan conditions cannot be disclosed yet, loans will be principally offered to Thai-owned airlines, he said.<br/>