Concerns about catching Ebola on airplanes or in airports are not deterring business travelers from flying, according to a poll released on Thursday by a group that advocates for business travel in Washington.
Airlines have expressed concern that passengers will become afraid to fly after the first reported cases of the deadly Ebola virus in the U.S. have been connected to people who have flown commercial airlines in recent weeks.
The Alexandria, Va.-based Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) said the fears have been unfounded, at least among respondents to its poll that showed 80 percent of business travelers said the Ebola scare has had no impact on their plans to fly.
{mosads}“Although Ebola is top of mind across the country, its business as usual for most business travelers,” said GBTA Executive Director Michael McCormick said in a statement. “But that is not to say that companies are not monitoring this outbreak closely. A majority of travel managers said they either are, or plan to provide, their employees with updated information on staying safe while traveling.”
The poll was conducted after Thomas Eric Duncan became the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S., shortly after flying from Liberia to Dallas, with stops in Brussels and Washington, D.C.
A nurse who helped treat Duncan before he died last week has also been diagnosed with Ebola after flying from Dallas to Cleveland.
Lawmakers have been pressuring the Obama administration to end commercial flights to and from West African countries while the Ebola epidemic is ongoing, although few airlines offer direct flights to that part of the continent.
Obama administration officials have, thus far, resisted the calls for a flight ban, arguing that cutting off flights would make it more difficult to deliver relief supplies to Africa.
The administration has instead increased screening for Ebola symptoms at airports in New York City; Newark, New Jersey; Washington, D.C.; Chicago and Atlanta. The administration argues that 94 percent of passengers who are flying from Africa to the U.S. will have to connect at one of those five airports.