Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D–Calif.) has been humming in the background the Senate. She recently resigned from her leadership position on the Judiciary Committee, and she’s stayed out of headlines in the fight over President Joe Biden’s massive spending plans.

But on Wednesday, when everyone’s eyes were on Biden, she quietly introduced the U.S. Air Travel Public Safety Act.

The bill complements the one introduced in the House by Rep. Don Beyer (D–Va.) It would require all air travelers to prove they are vaccinated against COVID-19 or provide proof of a recent negative test or a full recovery from coronavirus. The U.S. already enforces these rules for international flights, but Feinstein wants to apply them to domestic flights.

Feinstein pointed out these requirements for international travel. “This bill complements similar travel requirements already in place for all air passengers – including Americans – who fly to the United States from foreign countries,” she said in a statement.

Airline executives have doubted that they can enforce this rule on a domestic flight. After all, international flights require significantly more time, money, and personnel.

On MSNBC, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby characterized these domestic-air mandates as “logistically impractical.”

He said, “I think it would require government response and government tracking to make that practical, and make it work, and so it’s probably unlikely to happen domestically,” he said.

Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian agreed.

“You also look at the logistical dilemma — we’re carrying millions of people a week — of trying to figure out who’s been vaccinated, who’s not, who qualifies for an exemption,” he said on CBS This Morning. “It would actually bottleneck the domestic travel system.”

American Airlines CEO Doug Parker warned of “enormous delays” during an interview with The New York Times.

As of now, the Travel Safety Administration is prioritizing masks over vaccine mandates. This month, the TSA doubled the fines for appearing unmasked on a plane.

The president’s Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci agreed with the idea of a vaccine mandate for domestic travel, but he isn’t proposing one.

“It’s on the table. We haven’t decided yet,” he said on the podcast Skimm This.

 

 

Flashback: Dramatic spike in attacks against flight attendants

 

 

The Horn editorial team