SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – The airline industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Not many people flying these days. Air travel is starting to show signs of picking up.
The president of the union that represents flight attendants says that is cause for concern.
According to the Transportation Security Administration on Sunday, close to 129,000 travelers came through TSA checkpoints nationwide.
It is the most people screened by TSA agents since the beginning of the month.
That number is just a fraction of the 2,506,809 travelers on the same day last year but as several states begin to ease shelter-in-place restrictions it does coincide with air travel beginning to pick up.
“What we have been seeing over the past week are a lot of planes running at full capacity or near full capacity,” Sara Nelson said.
While that would appear to be good news for those who work in the airline industry, the president of the union that represents flight attendants, Sara Nelson, explains why full flights are a concern in the midst of a pandemic without the tsa requiring everyone on board to wear masks.
“Masks are missing from those guidelines for aviation. We are spreading the word that this is a good police that should be in place. Those TSA officers who are manning those security checkpoints, they’re essential workers. The people that I represent, my flying partners on the plane, we’re essential workers. We don’t have a choice. We have to go into that enclosed space, into that enclosed airplane, with recirculated air,” Nelson said.
According to the TSA’s website under traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic, it says you may wear a mask during the screening process. It shouldn’t end there, says nelson.
“So, we’re saying for our lives and for our safety and health, hear us out here and help us out here and let’s all work together to keep each other safe,” Nelson said.
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