American Establishes Task Force to Deal with Infectious Diseases

An American Airlines infectious disease task force will be responsible for both American Airlines and US Airways. After reviewing protocols already in place, management declared carriers “ready.”

Documents obtained by the Star-Telegram outline the steps American Airlines is taking to mitigate the risk of spreading infectious disease. The internal company memo was reportedly issued to employees on Thursday in the wake of two high-profile instances of Ebola-infected passengers flying aboard U.S. carriers.

In the memo, Director of Emergency Planning and Response Deborah Thompson told employees:

We have created a task force that oversees contagious disease situations exactly like we are seeing now, so we are ready. The very first thing we did was review our procedures onboard and on the ground to see if they were compliant with CDC guidelines, and they are.

Thompson said the review found American’s procedures for infectious disease control, including cleaning and the use of personal protective equipment, did not need to be changed in response to Ebola fears.

According to Thompson’s memo, the scope of the task force will expand to include all other carriers owned by American Airlines Group. The carrier, according to Thompson, has also reached out to union officials and created a dedicated email address to quickly answer questions and concerns employees might have.

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