Airlines Look for Flu Symptoms While Keeping Flights
By Mary Jane Credeur
April 27 (Bloomberg) -- American Airlines, Continental Airlines Inc. and other carriers are on “heightened awareness” for travelers with possible swine flu symptoms while maintaining flight schedules to Mexico, where the outbreak is worst.
Passengers are being given the option to rebook Mexico trips without penalties or fees, and airlines are awaiting further direction from authorities including the World Health Organization, spokesmen for U.S. carriers said yesterday. Airline shares tumbled in early U.S. trading on concern the outbreak would further crimp travel in the recession.
The U.S. government’s response escalated when the Obama administration declared a public-health emergency and released stockpiles of medicine after reports of 20 swine flu cases, none of them fatal, in 5 states. Mexico has had more than 100 deaths, and cases have been confirmed in Canada and Spain.
“I don’t think travel restrictions at this point are something anyone views as necessary,” said Katherine Andrus, assistant general counsel for the Air Transport Association trade group for the major carriers in Washington. “Based on what they’re seeing in Mexico City, the severity of the cases, that might make sense, but it doesn’t seem to be necessary here.”
Airlines are “stepping up screening” at airports to spot flu symptoms and are acting with “heightened awareness,” Andrus said.
Assessing Response
The International Air Transport Association, which represents carriers worldwide, urged members to review plans for health emergencies and assess how they would respond should “the current situation become more widespread.”
“No specific additional measures are currently advised,” the Geneva-based group said yesterday on its Web site.
Airlines said they stayed in contact through the weekend with the WHO and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as health officials assessed reports of new swine flu cases.
The CDC hasn’t recommended avoiding travel to Mexico, where the flu has sickened more than 1,000 people and forced schools to close and public events to be called off. The European Union “strongly recommended avoiding” travel to Mexico and other areas affected by the virus.
Airline shares tumbled on concern that the flu outbreak would further crimp travel already squeezed by the recession. Delta Air Lines Inc. fell 75 cents, or 9.5 percent, to $7.13 at 9:17 a.m. before the start of regular New York trading, and American Airlines parent AMR Corp. tumbled 59 cents, or 11 percent, to $4.83. Continental dipped $1.65, or 12 percent to $11.60 and UAL slid 72 cents, or 11 percent, to $5.70.
Ratings Cut
Kevin Crissey, an analyst at UBS Securities LLC in New York, downgraded the shares of AMR, United Airlines parent UAL Corp. and Continental to “neutral” from “buy” today because revenue in the industry is “bad enough to make future bankruptcies a possibility even with a modest economic recovery.” The nine biggest U.S. airlines posted a 15 percent drop in first-quarter sales.
American is waiving fees for passengers flying anywhere in Mexico who want to change plans and has had “a few calls relative to total volume” from travelers, said Tim Smith, a spokesman, in an e-mail. The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier is the world’s second-largest behind Delta.
US Airways Group Inc., the sixth-largest U.S. carrier, is letting passengers change or postpone flights to Mexico City without any penalties or fees.
“We’re not seeing a lot of takers,” said Michelle Mohr, a spokeswoman for the Tempe, Arizona-based company.
Forgoing Penalties
Delta, United and Continental are also letting customers change travel plans to Mexico without penalty, spokesmen said.
None of the airlines has canceled flights because of the flu outbreak, the spokesmen said. Deutsche Lufthansa AG and British Airways Plc, Europe’s second- and third-largest carriers, are still serving Mexico as usual, spokesmen said.
Marriott International Inc., the biggest U.S. hotel chain, is operating its Mexico properties as usual and has dispensed extra hand-sanitizing products and told employees to frequently clean handrails, elevator buttons, door handles and fitness- center equipment, Tom Marder, a spokesman, said in an e-mail.
Expedia Inc., the world’s largest online travel agency, is waiting its own fees for passengers who originally booked hotel and air travel to Mexico and will “continue to monitor the situation,” Katie Deines, a spokeswoman for the Bellevue, Washington-based company, wrote in an e-mail.
Messages and e-mails sent yesterday to spokesmen for InterContinental Hotels Group Plc, the world’s largest lodging company, weren’t immediately returned. Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., whose vessels make port calls in Mexico, didn’t respond to messages.
Recalling SARS
The airline industry’s response is similar to its handling of cases of avian flu and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in recent years, said Andrus, of the U.S. carriers’ trade group. She added that she didn’t think U.S. authorities had ever ordered the nation’s airlines to cancel flights because of an outbreak of disease.
Passengers may choose to abandon travel plans to Mexico out of caution, said Robert Mann, a former American and Pan Am executive who now runs airline consulting firm R.W. Mann & Co. in Port Washington, New York.
Travel to Asia plunged a few weeks after the first cases of SARS were reported in 2003, and demand didn’t recover for about six months, Mann said. That outbreak ultimately killed 770 people.
“We all remember the photos from SARS where everybody was wearing face masks,” Mann said. “People that are planning a leisure trip to Mexico might decide to go somewhere else or just wait. Business travelers might have a harder time changing plans, unless their corporate policy allows it.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta at mcredeur@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 27, 2009 09:22 EDT |
