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Airlines, tourism officials watching swine flu
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Published: April 27, 2009
CHARLOTTE - US Airways is going "above and beyond normal cleaning measures" but hasn't canceled any flights in relation to swine flu cases and travel advisories in other countries.
Charlotte's dominant carrier, US Airways, operates three daily nonstop flights to Cancun and one to Mexico City. The airline also has weekend flights to Cozumel, Mexico.
Two Cancun flights and the Mexico City flight departed as scheduled this morning. Return flights for those routes don't arrive in Charlotte until this afternoon and evening.
In response to the swine flu cases, US Airways cleaning crews are giving airplane cabins -- especially the lavatories -- more thorough cleanings between flights, airline spokesman Michelle Mohr said. In addition, she said, flight attendants are frequently using hand sanitizer and wearing rubber gloves during beverage and meal service.
While the carrier -- which operates about 90 percent of flights in Charlotte -- hasn't canceled any flights because of the swine flu cases, Mohr said some customers have changed travel plans. US Airways said this morning it will waive the normal fees for changing flights to various cities in Mexico for travel from now through Thursday night.
Passengers can move their itinerary up to seven days before or after the original date of travel. Another option is to apply the value of unused tickets toward a ticket to another destination, provided the new travel begins within seven days of the original date. For more information, call 800-428-4322.
Among countries that send visitors to the Charlotte region, Mexico ranks fifth for spending by visitors and fourth for total visitors, local tourism officials said.
Officials at the Charlotte airport met this morning on making any changes to operations related to the swine flu cases in other countries, airport spokeswoman Haley Gentry said. At this time, she said, the airport's role is to support the airlines and follow the directions of federal, state and local health officials.
Along with the Mexico flights, US Airways has a daily nonstop flight to San Jose, Costa Rica, and weekend flights to Belize City, Belize, and Liberia, Costa Rica. US Airways also has direct flights from Charlotte to several Caribbean islands, as well as three European cities: Frankfurt, London and -- as of last week -- Paris. In addition, Lufthansa flies nonstop from Charlotte to Munich.
Earlier today, the top European Union health official urged Europeans to postpone nonessential travel to parts of the U.S. and Mexico because of the swine flu virus. The EU health commissioner makes recommendations to 27 member countries, which each must make a final decision on travel advisories. Richard Besser, acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said the EU recommendation was not warranted.
Molly Hedrick, a spokeswoman for the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, said the group is watching the swine flu cases and travel advisories.
"As always, international travel is very important to us, and of course the summer months are very popular for tourism." Hedrick said, adding that the agency has a crisis management and communications plan for pandemic situations, "but at this time (we) haven't any reason to activate it."
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