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Faa recommends Covid testing for crew

Old 03-05-2021, 09:45 AM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by Flyfalcons View Post
We have at-home tests for our crews to take off the plane and bring home. I take mine a couple days before my next trip starts and get the results the day before I go on the road. Works great.

Sounds great, but who’s the burden on to create enough days off between trips to test before the next one starts?

Theres times I’ve stacked my month up to free up lots of time off elsewhere. With only the minimum time between trips.

Done it when I commuted as well. If I go back to commuting, as sort of asked, how would the company handle that?

So many questions....
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Old 03-05-2021, 09:49 AM
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Originally Posted by Flyfalcons View Post
We have at-home tests for our crews to take off the plane and bring home. I take mine a couple days before my next trip starts and get the results the day before I go on the road. Works great.
Cool, do you get paid to be lab monkey on your days off?
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Old 03-05-2021, 10:44 AM
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Originally Posted by Flyfalcons View Post
We have at-home tests for our crews to take off the plane and bring home. I take mine a couple days before my next trip starts and get the results the day before I go on the road. Works great.
Until you're in south Florida and another member of the crew pops positive (a false positive, as it turns out), and you live in ARIZONA. My buddy made it as far as Lake Charles, La in the rental before the company picked him up in a jet and flew him the rest of the way home.

Haven't done the "swish and spit" yet and I expect my personal trend in that regard to continue...
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Old 03-05-2021, 10:44 AM
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Originally Posted by todd1200 View Post
It doesn't seem that hard to setup. My grad school does free weekly surveillance testing, takes less than 5 minutes. I could see why airlines would want to avoid the disruption caused by crew members finding out they're positive in the middle of a trip, possibly in another country, but it does seem odd that our current policy that doesn't allow us to fly while waiting for asymptomatic surveillance results discourages us from getting tested regularly which kinda contradicts FAA guidance and common sense.
The problem isn’t difficulty setting up - the problem is the predictive value positive and negative of screening testing. It isn’t that great to begin with and as the prevalence decreases (which it certainly is doing currently) the predictive value gets even lower.

Google (or YouTube) Bayesian Law of conditional probability.

And EARLY in an infection ALL the tests have poor to negligible predictive value positive.
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Old 03-05-2021, 10:45 AM
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Originally Posted by Grumpyaviator View Post
Get a test at duty in, it’s invalid at the first person you pass in the terminal.


FAA has no idea about virology and CDC have no idea about our work environment.
I’m not an expert but the virus usually takes days to show up. If you pass someone it doesn’t mean you’re going to get sick right then and there. I’m wondering why now, why didn’t they set this up early last year already. I can’t think of too many other professions where we put ourselves at risk than flight crew. The pilots especially since most don’t wear the mask, not that it matters, and you’re sort of just trusting the other person wasn’t partying it up in a COVID party before the trip. When I hear about this, I’m not thinking what hotel am I supposed to get when I test positive and who pays for my Uber. I’m thinking it would be nice to know the other person was infected.
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Old 03-05-2021, 10:56 AM
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Originally Posted by John Carr View Post
Sounds great, but who’s the burden on to create enough days off between trips to test before the next one starts?

Theres times I’ve stacked my month up to free up lots of time off elsewhere. With only the minimum time between trips.

Done it when I commuted as well. If I go back to commuting, as sort of asked, how would the company handle that?

So many questions....
Our minimum time off after our shortest trip is three days. Tests are provided as a courtesy and not a requirement.
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Old 03-05-2021, 11:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Flyfalcons View Post
Our minimum time off after our shortest trip is three days.
That's good, what if one doesn't want 3 days off between trips?

And how is an "out and back", "local", "day trip", whatever handled?
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Old 03-05-2021, 11:11 AM
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Originally Posted by Minepza View Post
I’m not an expert but the virus usually takes days to show up. If you pass someone it doesn’t mean you’re going to get sick right then and there. I’m wondering why now, why didn’t they set this up early last year already. I can’t think of too many other professions where we put ourselves at risk than flight crew. The pilots especially since most don’t wear the mask, not that it matters, and you’re sort of just trusting the other person wasn’t partying it up in a COVID party before the trip. When I hear about this, I’m not thinking what hotel am I supposed to get when I test positive and who pays for my Uber. I’m thinking it would be nice to know the other person was infected.
Except screening now that the disease is at low prevalence won’t give you meaningful information:

https://www.medmastery.com/guide/cov...vailable-tests

Currently the US is reporting less than 10 million active COVID cases and dropping, out of a population of 330 million. But that’s only 68,000 newly diagnosed cases a day out of 330 million individuals. That incidence of new cases skews the predictive value positive even lower.

This is simply a bad idea, and the fact that people in government making decisions are ignorant enough to suggest it is actually pretty frightening. What else must they be screwing up if they are that ignorant? This isn’t a political thing or even an economic thing but basic science that has been well established since 1763.
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Old 03-05-2021, 11:35 AM
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What data shows that implementing such a measure among aircrew is necessary? This has the stench of "we did something for the sake of appearances" written all over it.
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Old 03-05-2021, 11:36 AM
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Originally Posted by John Carr View Post
That's good, what if one doesn't want 3 days off between trips?

And how is an "out and back", "local", "day trip", whatever handled?
We can request to slide trips closer together, which can override the three-day minimum time off. But that does not have to be honored by the company. Any trip six days or less requires three days off minimum afterward when the company builds lines. Very short duration trips are rare, but happen on occasion. If one is concerned about getting test results while on the road then they simply skip taking the test until they have a longer stretch at home.
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