U.S. Airlines Struggle to Collect Better Data on Passengers Amid Coronavirus
March 04 2020 - 4:26PM
Dow Jones News
By Alison Sider
U.S. airlines are pressured to provide more detailed information
about passengers flying into the country to help officials contain
the spread of the coronavirus, but are struggling with requests
they say are beyond their capabilities.
Carriers have been expected to help keep people with the
Covid-19 disease from entering the U.S. They have had to assist in
funneling travelers who have been in China or Iran recently into
designated airports where they can undergo additional screening,
often relying on passengers to disclose where they have been.
Airlines say they are now being asked to provide primary and
secondary phone numbers, email addresses and locations where
passengers will be staying while in the U.S. -- information they
say they don't easily have at hand.
Top executives from American Airlines Group Inc., United
Airlines Holdings Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., Alaska Air Group
Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. met with President Trump and Vice
President Mike Pence on Wednesday to discuss how airlines are
dealing with the impact of the coronavirus.
Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland
Security, said the additional data would help the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human
Services and others identify people who enter the country and
contact them if necessary.
One issue is that about half of travel tickets are booked
through travel agencies rather than directly with airlines. While
members of frequent-flier programs generally have phone numbers and
email addresses on file with carriers, many passengers don't. They
can choose to share contact information with airlines, but
sometimes don't.
"We don't have this information -- we simply don't -- on many
passengers, " said Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president for
legislative and regulatory policy at Airlines for America, a trade
group. It could take as long as a year to reprogram systems to
ensure that all this data is collected, she added.
Airlines for America suggested that HHS set up a website for
inbound international travelers, where they can input their own
data, similar to something that has been set up in South Korea.
Nick Calio, Airlines for America's chief executive, said that
Wednesday's meeting was constructive and that the group would
continue to work with federal agencies to help contain the spread
of the virus.
The U.S. death toll from the new coronavirus grew to 11 on
Wednesday, with California announcing its first fatality linked to
the viral infection.
Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 04, 2020 16:11 ET (21:11 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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