U.S. Rep Ed Case sent a letter today to the head of the Federal Aviation Administration seeking confirmation that Hawaii has the authority to require that all airline passengers be tested prior to boarding flights to the state.
“As we all continue to address the COVID-19 global pandemic, I write to request your cooperation in confirming Hawaii’s ability to impose and enforce conditions on air travel to Hawaii which are critical to ensuring (a) the health of Hawaii residents and visitors and (b) the safe recovery of Hawaii’s economy and in particular our travel and tourism industry,” Case wrote to FAA Administrator Steve Dickson.
“This could include requiring testing of all intended passengers (including in this letter crew) on any direct air travel to Hawaii before boarding,” Case wrote. “Such testing could include at least fever testing and, as available, on-site rapid COVID-19 testing, as now required by international airlines such as Emirates on some flights.”
Case said enforcement of the mandatory testing would be the responsibility of the airlines.
“The requirement for enforcing these conditions would be borne by the airlines as a condition of accepting any intended passenger on any direct flight to Hawaii, and any airline would be required to deny boarding to any intended passenger with a fever which, under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, indicates potential COVID-19 infection or who tests positive.
Case pointed out in his letter that despite Gov. Ige’s mandatory 14-day quarantine, the number of visitors to Hawaii has been “increasing rapidly” this month, which suggests that the quarantine is not an effective deterrent.
“These air passengers arrive from various destinations with widely varying efforts to mitigate the public health effects of COVID-19. Some jurisdiction are just as stringent as Hawaii, if not moreso, while most others are not,” Case wrote. “Their continued arrival in Hawaii, at increasing numbers, with an ineffective post-arrival quarantine, constitutes an unacceptable risk, and it is reasonable for Hawaii to seek to institute pre-boarding conditions to minimize this risk wherever and however possible.”
Case said the FAA does not question restrictions on air passengers once they arrive because that’s an exercise of Hawaii’s police powers. However, he said it’s his understanding that “absent superseding authority in other federal agencies such as the CDC, the FAA is unwilling or unable to authorize the State of Hawaii to impose reasonable public health-related restrictions on travelers as a condition of travel to Hawaii.”
Case concluded by asking Dickson to revisit these issues to find “a solution allowing (the state) to impose reasonable public health pre-board conditions on intended passengers to Hawaii.”
“This could include flexibility within existing statutes and regulations, identification of superseding authority in other federal agencies, and proposed changes to existing regulations and statutory authority. In the latter case, I ask that you initiate any required rule changes under expedited authority, and propose to me specific statutory amendments which would provide you with the necessary authority.”
