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United Airlines has developed a comprehensive plan to “extract” sick, or in all likelihood sick, pilots from foreign countries that employ planes without passengers, so pilots don’t want to quarantine or get help overseas unless absolutely necessary, according to an internal United Workers memo learned Dec. 14 via Skift.
The memorandum titled “International Extraction Procedure: Crew Member Affected by COVID. “
As a giant pandemic rages on, the repatriation of team members is a thorny factor for many passenger and shipping airlines. Pilots and flight attendants fear being stranded in a foreign country, in an inferior hotel or, worse, in a hospital or detention center. Pilots’ unions fear that a team member could test negative for Covid-19 before departure and then positive some time after landing abroad.
The Air Lines Pilots Association, which represents pilots from United, Delta Air Lines and Federal Express, among others, commented on this story, but spoke about this danger. In July, the union said, 3 Federal Express pilots were “forced into mandatory hospitals” in Hong Kong after testing positive for the virus, while “several” others “were placed in government camps in incredibly difficult conditions. “
Around the same time, United and American Airlines stopped flying to Hong Kong, after pilots complained about the type of Covid-19 check used upon arrival. After airlines had similar problems in Shanghai, United stopped flying nonstop from San Francisco. Airlines have been receptive to considerations from pilots’ unions, as they don’t need to end up in a position where pilots refuse to fly on the few lucrative long-haul routes left.
Most of the world’s airlines plan to evacuate flight crews after coups, wars and terrorist attacks, and after natural disasters.
But the United Covid-19 extraction plans observed through Skift are express for this global pandemic, detailing where team members can sit on board in case of ill health, what bathroom they can use, how they can eat flights, and where they deserve to be disposed of. your garbage. United has assigned an “extraction team” to handle logistics, the memo says.
The memo also includes what the most important rule is: team members cannot be evacuated on passenger flights.
“If a United aircraft and/or equipment is not required to perform the flight, the airline will inform about an on-site extraction or quarantine choice plan,” the memo said.
The other two U. S. -based global airlines are based in the U. S. U. S. Air Carriers and Delta Air Lines have plans for team members, airline representatives said. to bring home team members safely,” a U. S. spokeswoman said. U. S.
“I can verify that we have [a plan] but for many safety and security considerations, I will refuse to provide additional details,” a Delta spokesperson said.
A United spokeswoman declined to comment.
The five-page memorandum for pilots explains how the airline repatriates team members. While United has made it transparent, it doesn’t need passengers to fly if they believe they have Covid-19, the airline said it can safely pull its own team members from overseas. , as long as the planes have no other passengers.
United’s policy will take effect as soon as a team member tests positive, or fears a positive test, or reports close contact for at least 15 minutes with the person who tested positive, the memo says.
The team member should contact Medaire, a company that provides fitness recommendations to airlines. The team member will then need to contact United’s lead pilot office, where teams “coordinate logistics and brief the affected team member on the next steps and main points of the pull flight. “However, if a jurisdiction does not allow the extractions or if Medaire deems the pilot to remain in place, the memo says, the pilot will be quarantined.
In any case, once the pilot fears the infection, the user must remain in place. “Pilots do not continue to the airport or leave the hotel until notified through the extraction equipment,” the memo said.
At the airport, the team running on the flight is expected to wear an N95 mask as the United worker with health or potentially ill approaches the plane. “After preparing the aircraft, all team members will need to ensure that they have a safe distance of 6 feet or more from the affected team members from boarding and at any other time of extraction. “
Once on the aircraft, the memo says, team members are not expected to move to the rear of the aircraft unless for operational or protection reasons.
The team member with health problems, or in all likelihood with health problems, can only sit in certain spaces of the aircraft. In narrow-body jets, the affected team member will have to sit in economy class, while in wide-body jets, the user would possibly sit in one of the rearmost seats in business class. Each aircraft has an imaginary red line near the front of the plane that the user with health problems cannot cross in case of emergency.
The extracted user can eat and use one of the plane’s kitchens to prepare food. The user may also use the designated bathroom.
“After cooking for food/beverage preparation or waste disposal, affected team members are requested to disinfect their preparation and/or touch the spaces with an alcohol-based disinfectant,” the memo says.
Once at the destination, it is intended that the team member who is in poor health is the last user to get off the plane.
The pilots’ memo sent as United is dealing with an incident in which a passenger died last week on a flight from Orlando to Los Angeles that reportedly showed symptoms of covid. The airline, which has not shown the passenger has covid, said it had been contacted. through the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U. S. on death.
“At the time of the hijacking, we were informed that he had suffered cardiac arrest, so passengers were given the opportunity to take a later flight or continue with their plans,” United said in a statement. After the flight was hijacked to disembark the passenger from the plane, it continued to Los Angeles.
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Tags: us airlines, covid-19, delta airlines, united airlines
Photo credit: Two pilots prepare to fly during the coronavirus pandemic. United Airlines
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