Airlines push White House to reject testing for US flights
U.S. airlines are pressing their case against requiring coronavirus testing of passengers on domestic flightsBy ZEKE MILLER and DAVID KOENIG Associated PressFebruary 13, 2021, 1:36 AM• 3 min readWASHINGTON — Leaders of several major U.S. airlines met online Friday with White House officials to press their case against requiring coronavirus tests for passengers on domestic flights, saying it would undermine the already fragile industry.White House press secretary Jen Psaki downplayed speculation that the Biden administration could soon impose a requirement that passengers on domestic flights first pass a COVID-19 test. But she stopped short of taking the idea off the table.“Reports that there is an intention to put in place new requirements such as testing are not accurate,” Psaki said. She described the meeting with CEOs as “brief.”A person familiar with the discussions said the airline CEOs talked with White House coronavirus-response coordinator Jeff Zients, according to the person, who spoke anonymously to discuss a private meeting.The CEOs of American, United, Southwest, Alaska and JetBlue all took part in the meeting, according to industry officials.The meeting was arranged after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that a testing requirement
