JOINT STATEMET IATA IFALPA SAFELY ENABLING THE GLOBAL AIR TRANSPORT SUPPLY CHAIN

J oint S tatement 7 Dec ember 2020

Safely Enabling the Global Air Transport Supply Chain During the Covid -19 Pandemic

Background

The impact of COVID -19 on the global air transport supply chain continues to be significant , with airlines struggling to cope with the unpredictable and ever-changing border restriction measures implemented by States.

From the outset of the pandemic , these fluctuating border regulations impacted both the trave ling public and the transportation of crucial medical supplies . As a result, the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO) Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA)made public their initial “Harmonized Guidance on Facilitating Cargo Flights and Protecting Crew during the COVID-19 Pandemic ”.

The CAPSCA guidance was intended to facilitate the movement of freight, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), aircraft spare parts and the positi oning of qualified engineering personnel and recogni zes that specific health and sanitation measures that have been implemented protect the risk of crew becoming exposed to COVID -19.

These measures are consistent with the revised guidelines recently publi shed by the ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART). IATAand industry partners have worked closely with ICAO in the development of these guidelines and recommended best practices to ensure its member airlines are well versed in the adopt ion of this multi layered risk-based approach to mitigate virus transmission.

The CART guidance specifically recommended that airline crew (already categorized as “essential workers” within ICAO Annex 9) should NOT be subject to the same restrictions that are applied to the general traveling public :

“Crew members who are involved i n flights with a layover, should not be medically quarantined or detained for observations while on layover or after returning, unless they were exposed to a known symptomatic passenger or crew member on board or during the layover”

This is further emphasized in the following CART guidance :

Crews are not subject to screening or restrictions applicable to other travelers. health screening methods for crew members are as non -invasive as possible”

C urrent is s ues

Des pite the C ART guidanc e, we are s eeing an inc reas ing trend whereby S tates are applying the s ame public health meas ures for c rew that are applied to the general traveling public . S uc h meas ures c ould inc lude providing proof of a negative C OV ID tes t prior to departure and in s ome c as es a s ec ond negative C OV ID tes t is required on arrival. C learly, both have a s ignific ant operational and financ ial impac t on airlines . T here are

already several C ivil Aviation Authorities whic h only allow c rew members with a negative C OV ID-19 PC R tes t c ertific ate to layover in the res pec tive c ountries .

One global airline has es timated to IAT A that the additional c os t of c omplying with s uc h requirements is approximately US $2,600 per flight. For a daily flight that would add up to an additional US $950,000 per year-- and that is for a s ingle flight.

T hes e meas ures not only c ontravene the rec ommended C APS C A and C ART guidanc e, they may s ignific antly impac t the ability of the aviation indus try to res tart and rebuild c onnec tivity.

T herefore, States s hould ac knowledge that c rew pres ent a different ris k profile than pas s engers and that more flexibility and relaxation of tes ting requirements and/or quarantine c ould be c ons idered (inc luding exemptions ), in ac c ordanc e with PHA rec ommendations.

©2020 The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations , and International Air Transport Association . This publication is provided for information purposes only, in all cases pilots should follow their company’s guidance and procedures. In the interest of flight safety, reproduction of this publication in whole or in part is encouraged. It may not be offered for sale or used c ommercially. All reprints must credit IFALPA and IATA.

ATTACHMENT B to State letter AN 5/28 -20/97 – Appendix A, 23 Sep 202 0