Delta Air Lines launches contact tracing for travelers returning to US

Delta Air Lines is partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to keep international customers informed of potential COVID-19 exposure through contact tracing. Along with our nine global airline partners, we are working with government agencies, health officials and aviation authorities to offer safer travel at every point in your journey.

Beginning Dec. 15, Delta will become the first U.S. airline to ask customers traveling to the U.S. from an international location to voluntarily provide five pieces of data to aid contact tracing and public health follow-up efforts, including:

• Full name
• Email address
• Address in the U.S.
• Primary phone
• Secondary phone

“Independent studies have shown that the many layers of protection Delta has already put in place are effectively minimizing the risk of COVID-19 transmission, and contact tracing adds one more important layer to our efforts to ensure safety throughout travel,” said Bill Lentsch, Delta’s Chief Customer Experience Officer. “We want customers to feel safe when they return to travel, and this voluntary program is another way we can provide additional reassurance to customers and employees alike.”

Customers and those in their itinerary can voluntarily participate in our contact-tracing program if they are:

• Flying on any Delta-operated flight
• A foreign national and/or a U.S. passport holder traveling to the United States as your final destination

Under the new process, we are working with the CDC to streamline contact-tracing efforts by directly and securely transmitting the five requested customer data points to the CDC via U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This will give the CDC access to the data in moments, dramatically decreasing the time it takes to notify affected customers via local health departments.

By connecting with customers more quickly and providing public health follow-up, health authorities can help reduce instances of potential exposure and slow the spread of the virus.

Currently, in the event of confirmed COVID-19 case with travel while infectious, the CDC requests a passenger manifest from Delta to identify all customers seated two seats around the confirmed case. This information is then transmitted to the appropriate local health departments for follow-up, with each department taking responsibility for passengers in their own jurisdiction.

Data is central to Delta’s vision for the future of travel, and we understand our vision is only as good as the trust customers place in us to protect their identity and information. All data submitted by customers through this voluntary collection process is sent to the CDC using established channels between airlines and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the Advance Passenger Information System. We will retain this information for no longer than is necessary to achieve the contact tracing and public health follow-up objectives, or as required by Customs and Border Protection.

Protecting our customers’ security and privacy are top priorities for all Delta employees, and customers can be confident their information will be treated with the same level of care we take for your safety throughout your travel journey.

Contact tracing required for Delta’s Atlanta-Rome testing program

Last week Delta announced our partnership with the Aeroporti de Roma and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to launch a first-of-its-kind trans-Atlantic COVID-19 testing program that will enable quarantine-free entry into Italy. Participating customers who are eligible to travel will be granted an exemption from quarantine restrictions on arrival into Italy.

As part of this pilot program, contact-tracing information collection will be mandatory for all customers flying to the U.S. This pilot and our ongoing contact-tracing efforts are crucial steps to resuming international travel safely.

– eTurboNews | Trends | Travel News Online