The bird flu pandemic has caused the health officials to request the airlines for detailed information about the travellers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have asked them to collect information such as personal details full name, address, emergency contact numbers and detailed flight information, to help track a potential epidemic.
But these pose an additional expenditure on the airlines which is already facing lot of difficulties. The new costs associated with additional safety measures is an insupportable burden on an industry sector. The CDC said the airlines department should be in a position to give all the details about the passengers within 12 hours of time and has to keep the data for 60 days.The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has also compelled the airlines to electronically transmit information about airline passengers within the US. The reason behind is that it can check their names against government watch lists. But the airline is doubtful whether it will be able to shoulder the cost of the new safety measures.
