Thread by @DrEricDing

OUR OPEN LETTER TO @united & @AmericanAir:

@FAScientists calls on United and American to reverse their decision to fully book planes

We write to express strong concerns about your recent decisions to return to booking your airlines’ flights to capacity: 🧵 #COVID19

2) COVID-19 spreads easily and is deadly — as of Tuesday afternoon on June 30th, there have been over 2.6 million confirmed infections and, tragically, more than 126,000 deaths in the US alone. The coronavirus — SARS-CoV-2 — is primarily spread “through respiratory droplets

3) produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks,” and some of those droplets are aerosolized. Moreover, COVID-19 can be transmitted efficiently “by people who are not showing symptoms.” These factors make it all the more critical to follow public health guidance.

4) The CDC recommends that people put at least six feet of distance between themselves and those outside of their households, in addition to taking other preventative measures such as covering the mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others.

5) Even air travel at 50% capacity, or flights w/ middle seats left open, while not allowing six feet of distance between people, would be better than nothing.
In light of all this, your decisions to book flights to capacity place your crew and your passengers in excessive danger

6) That’s why it is also drawing criticism from government experts. The country’s top two federal public health officials — Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Dr. Robert Redfield @CDCDirector — described your actions as problematic and deeply disappointing to the Senate.

7) For all of these reasons, we urge you to immediately reverse your decision and to protect your passengers and crew from COVID-19 to the extent possible.

Sincerely,

@AliNouriPhD
President
Federation of American Scientists

@DrEricDing
Senior Fellow, @FAScientists

8) The Federation of American Scientists, founded in 1945, is devoted to the view that scientists, engineers and other technically trained people have the ethical obligation to ensure that science and technology is applied to the benefit of humankind.

9) FAS works to reduce the risk of nuclear weapons and infectious disease, works to make government more informed and more transparent, and strives for a more educated public by fighting the spread of disinformation.

10) Letter to United and American Airlines available here: mailchi.mp/fas.org/airlin…