# Plain Language Summary: COVID-19 Testing Ban for Air Travel

This bill would prevent the federal government from requiring airline passengers to show a negative COVID-19 test before flying. Right now, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has the power to make airlines enforce COVID testing rules if they wanted to. This bill takes that power away and says the FAA cannot create or enforce any rule that forces airlines to require passengers to test negative for COVID-19 before boarding a plane.

The practical effect is straightforward: if this bill passes, you couldn't be denied a flight because you don't have proof of a negative COVID test. Airlines would no longer be allowed to check your COVID status as a condition of flying. This applies to both domestic flights within the United States and international flights on foreign airlines coming into the country. The bill essentially locks in the current situation where most airlines have already dropped their testing requirements, and prevents the government from bringing those requirements back in the future, even if COVID surges again.

The bill doesn't prevent airlines from voluntarily choosing to require tests on their own—it only stops the government from mandating it. It also doesn't affect other health requirements like vaccines or quarantine rules that might be set by other agencies. The main impact is on one specific requirement: the COVID test before flying. For most travelers, this likely won't change much since airlines have already moved away from testing requirements, but it does mean the government can't reimpose them without Congress passing a new law.

To prohibit the Secretary of Transportation, acting through the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, from setting a requirement that air carriers and foreign air carriers must require an individual to test negative for COVID-19 to travel in air transportation on an air carrier, and for other purposes.

Biggs, Andy

 <p>This bill prohibits the Federal Aviation Administration from setting a requirement that air carriers and foreign air carriers must require a passenger to test negative for COVID-19 to travel domestically on such carriers.</p>