Don’t blame omicron for flight delays. Blame Policy | American Institute of Business

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Flight cancellations are on the rise. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warns of a collapse if the Omicron variant continues to spread. It will be.

Flight cancellations have stranded hundreds of thousands of people. The economic consequences will be severe, not only for the airline industry, but in many other sectors, as stranded workers do not show up as expected. But we shouldn’t blame COVID-19. Omicron can be more contagious than other variants, but it’s rarely more serious than a common cold. In other words, most people hospitalized with Omicron may have COVID-19, but are not there because of it.

The Biden administration cites science but leans more in panic than good public policy in its aviation regulations.

Airlines filter air more efficiently than public buildings. While Biden may appeal to altruism and fear that his restrictions will protect the most vulnerable given the possibility of asymmetric transmission, the answer to this should rest on an individual risk assessment among those who feel most vulnerable. They can either use surgical-grade masks that can filter out those tiny droplets and duct tape to provide a seal, or find another way to travel. The reality, however, is that what they choose probably doesn’t matter that much. COVID-19 is rampant.

It is also not possible to completely eradicate the risk to the most vulnerable. The transit didn’t stop when the bubble boy was born. Indeed, the policy of the Biden administration confuses inconvenience and effectiveness and imposes on America a collective agoraphobia.

If the pilots and crew are asymptomatic, let them fly. Same as passengers. If the air traffic controllers feel 100%, let them work. If someone feels sick, let them take a sick day. Americans get viruses every day; most do nothing other than boost our immune system.

Just as Congress should be subject to the same health regulations and insurance requirements as the rest of Americans, every government official should also be required to abide by the restrictions they impose on others, even when they do. trip abroad. Secretary of State Tony Blinken wants to return home from Senegal? That he find a test center there providing results within 24 hours, as he asks other Americans.

The question should not be political. As Democrats seized on President Donald Trump’s confused response to the pandemic to score political points – as candidate Joe Biden even questioned vaccines developed under Trump’s watch – hindsight suggests it doesn’t matter. what Trump did as the pandemic was about to unfold its course. The same goes for Biden, Governor Ron DeSantis or Governor Gavin Newsom. They may appreciate the image of control, but the point is that what they are doing is as much to stop a wave as a wall three feet high would stop a tsunami.

Sometimes less is more. Government can provide information, but no bureaucrat has an individual’s best interests at heart than that individual.

Back to air travel: The system may be on the verge of collapse, but the problem is less Omicron than the runaway government. Let the free market prevail. If some companies want to hide all travelers, let them play the bargain. If others want to tout their filtration systems, let the buyers decide. If some want to eliminate asymptomatic employees and cancel flights, pay the price and others want to get back to normal, that is fine too.

Omicron doesn’t have to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back; rather, it could be the wave that teaches a government convinced of its own omniscience a certain humility.

This article was originally published here.

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