USA opens borders
 

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-58621759

And airline shares rise

Will be interesting to see which vaccines are going to be approved - e.g. AstraZeneca is not officially approved in the US...

Long haul pilots can finally relax their sphincters.........we all can! :p

About time! Most of Europe vaccinated to a much higher percentage than the USA. Roll on Canada too (probably have to wait until after the election there).

Any idea how this will apply to as of yet unvaccinated crew? Will they be unable to enter without proof of double vaccination or would a negative PCR suffice?

Consol

Er, follow the news. Already happened. YYZ immigration has been a mess

see if it works
 

Hi,
thought of a vacation in the US - but very hesitant to book. Will the lifting stay in place,
will the US re-test arriving passengers ? My belief and trust in the stability of rules
has been eroded by corona.
Lifting of the travel ban is a good sign - but it could be re-instated with short notice.
Thanks

411A NG

Not true, was an issue with naming conventions - it’s recognised name is Vaxzevria. Just a paperwork issue…

Hmm, don't really understand your comment. That vaccine is simply not approved by the US FDA so it will be interesting to see if EU citizens will be allowed to enter having been vaccinated with said vaccine.

BBC and others are reporting that Anthony Fauci is suggesting it shouldn’t be an issue.

All vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation will be accepted.

And what about crew? I guess it will be in line with Canada, no exemption.
That will be a massive problem for airlines from countries where mandatory vaccination is not possible.

Canada customs at airports has been a gong show lately. The US airports I’ve been operating to have been packed which is nice to see, flights are filling up.

golfyankeesierra

Why? Airlines already deal with countries requiring Yellow Fever vaccination. Doesn't require mandatory vaccination. Either you volunteer to take the vaccine or you don't fly to destinations that require the vaccine.

Flew round trip last week from Seattle to Washington Dulles. Both airports were busy - especially Dulles (although many of the airport shops and restaurants were still closed). SEA to IAD on Sunday the aircraft was packed - few if any empty seats (A319). The return flight on Friday night was just the opposite - maybe 1/3rd full (737-900ER) - although I'm at a complete loss was to what the difference was...

keitaidenwa

Agree, and it won’t affect me yet. Only when there are getting more countries requiring mandatory vaccination I get to fly less to the countries that don’t.
So I really am interested how it will turn out.

Destinations requiring vaccines
 

My airline is removing unvaccinated crews from flights to destinations requiring vaccines. They get paid, but must be available to do other flights, or else forfeit the pay.

So when exactly will Canada mandate mandatory covid-vaccines for airline crew?
And when exactly will the usa mandate mandatory covid vaccines for airline crew?

tdracer
Very standard in the US business consulting sector to fly out Sunday evening, do Monday to Thursday with the client, return Thursday evening, do Friday in their own office. Washington DC has this sort of trade more than most destinations.

411A NG
It really disappoints me to make this observation, but I believe that AstraZeneca, pioneers with the vaccine, who have a somewhat different corporate business model to other cash-grabbing pharmaceutical companies who followed on, have not greased enough palms (alias campaign contributions) in Washington to achieve this. For fairness, they have had some comparable governmental difficulties across Europe as well, reported in the press at the time.

fox niner

I don’t believe a vaccine mandate will come from the government. There seems to be little appetite for that. United has said all employees must be vaccinated however, and Delta has increased the insurance premiums for unvaccinated employees.