Airlines and airports are offering the tests as a way for travelers whose results are negative to avoid quarantines at their destinations, and to revive travelers’ faith in flying.
American Airlines said on Tuesday that it will offer coronavirus tests to passengers, joining United Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue Airways in offering tests to passengers. Tampa International Airport also said it will offer tests. The tests, which range from rapid tests at the airport that return results in minutes to tests that take a few days, allow travelers whose results are negative to skip or minimize quarantine restrictions in various destinations. The new tests come as the number of people flying both domestically and internationally continues to be at record lows (the Transportation Security Administration screened 568,688 people on Tuesday compared to 1,998,980 on the same date a year ago). Testing at airports, it is hoped, will assuage people who are worried about the safety of flying amid the ongoing pandemic. “Our plan for this initial phase of preflight testing reflects the ingenuity and care our team is putting into rebuilding confidence in air travel and we view this as an important step in our work to accelerate an eventual recovery of demand,” Robert Isom, American’s president, said in a statement on Tuesday. American initially will test people traveling to international destinations, starting with people traveling from Miami International Airport to Jamaica. Testing for travel to Jamaica will be for residents flying to their home country; if a passenger tests negative for the virus, the 14-day quarantine currently in place for returning residents would be waived. The airline is also working to start testing for visitors and residents going to the Bahamas and other countries in the Caribbean. Beginning in mid-October, the airline will offer at-home testing that can be done via video call with a medical professional; in-person testing at a CareNow urgent care location; and rapid on-site testing, administered by CareNow at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport for flights to Hawaii. Tampa International Airport is the first airport in the United States to offer the tests and they will be available to passengers flying on any airline.
