Dec 17 Reuters -- European airlines are walking an increasingly fine line to meet both the foreign inoculation and local privacy requirements as more countries require flight crews to be vaccinated against COVID - 19, carriers say.
On January 15th, Canada will end the exemption that allowed entry of unvaccinated foreign flight crews, joining others that have vaccine mandates for pilots and passengers.
A spokesman for the trade group Airlines For Europe A 4 E said that it is creating a logistical headache for European carriers, who are unable to ask for their employees' vaccination status because they are bound to strict data protection laws in Europe.
A 4 E spokesman Jennifer Janzen said that carriers would have to find workarounds in order to comply with the Canadian entry requirement.
U.S. carriers like United Airlines require their cabin crew to be fully vaccineed, while American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have delayed the effective date of vaccine mandates until 2022 for employees.
Airlines, which have suffered steep losses due to COVID 19 travel restrictions and bans, are blamed for a patchwork of rules for increased red-tape and depressed demand for international travel.
As the fast-spreading Omicron variant forces governments to tighten border restrictions, airlines expect to see more inoculation mandates for crew.
More and more countries are mandating or considering the immunization of flight crews, said KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in a statement.
Intercontinental flights to about 10 destinations, which are currently not exempt from vaccine requirements, were identified by the carrier.
A spokeswoman for Germany's Lufthansa AG said as more countries demand proof of inoculation from everyone on planes, international flights will no longer be practical without vaccinated crews.
Canada, which has been indicted to not leave the country due to Omicron, is expected to announce on Friday that it will require people returning from short foreign trips to submit a negative COVID- 19 test.
Some countries give foreign flight crews a pass from the immunisations rules aimed at international travelers, as recommended by the U.N. s aviation agency.
International flight crews are exempted from U.S. requirements that all non-U. S. citizens traveling from abroad should be vaccinated. Transport Canada is working closely with public health officials on the vaccination requirements that affect international aircrew. Since KLM does not require crew members to be inoculated or share their vaccination status, they must seek a generalized travel restriction so they can't fly to a destination with entry requirements they can't meet, the carrier said.
The airline said in its emailed statement that managers do not gain insight into the reason for the restriction. We can only fill in the rosters properly in order to keep our operation feasible.