Rita Panahi: Why flight crews must be treated like everyone else

Nine months into this pandemic, it seems lax that some states have allowed international airline staff to skip mandatory measures.

It’s concerning that nine months into the coronavirus pandemic we are still figuring out best practice.

And, some of the policy failures seem rather obvious.

Given the fact that Australia’s borders are closed — and the requirement for every returning resident and citizen to enter hotel quarantine for 14 days and return two negative tests before being allowed out — it seems rather lax that NSW, Victoria and Queensland have allowed international airline staff to skip mandatory measures.

They are meant to self-isolate but more than a dozen crew members have copped fines for hitting the town during their stay, though those breaches did not lead to any known cases of community transmission.

As NSW, the state that has carried the heaviest load in the country in taking the most overseas arrivals, faces a spike in infections it’s imperative that flight crews face similar restrictions to passengers in the hours or days they spend in our country.

It’s imperative that flight crews face similar restrictions to passengers in the hours or days they spend in our country. Picture: AFP

Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia impose strict restrictions on international airline staff who are kept in dedicated facilities under quarantine-like conditions.

NSW, Victoria and Queensland are belatedly adopting this model and there will be a consistent approach across the country for international flight crews who typically spend no more than 72 hours in a city before departing the country.

The change would see airline crew bused to a designated hotel where they would be required to remain in their rooms until it’s time to return to the airport for their next flight.

Pilots and cabin crew would not be given the keys to their hotel room and would have police or ADF personnel on the premises to ensure they comply with restrictions.

It may seem extreme for international flight crews but Australia, along with New Zealand, is unique in being island nations that closed their borders to the world early in the pandemic in order to stop the virus spreading here.

Our personal freedoms and economies have taken a hit but the virus has been largely suppressed and it seems counterintuitive to go to the lengths we have to eradicate COVID-19 to then allow flight crews to skip quarantine procedures.

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