Fri, May 01, 2009
When Will This Administration Quit Attacking Aviation?
The world has a new "Biden-ism" to
deal with and this one bodes ill for airline travel. The Vice
President, well-known for saying things now and then, that he has
come to regret later, dropped a bit of a bomb on the safety of
current air travel.
Thursday morning, in making the rounds of the morning programs,
Biden set off another firestorm of recrimination and eventual
apologies by telling the Today Show, "I would tell members of my
family — and I have — I wouldn’t go anywhere in
confined places now." Biden continued the attack on air travel by
adding that, "It’s not that it’s going to Mexico.
It’s [that] you’re in a confined aircraft. When one
person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft.
That’s me... So, from my perspective, what it relates to is
mitigation. If you’re out in the middle of a field when
someone sneezes, that’s one thing. If you’re in a
closed aircraft or closed container or closed car or closed
classroom, it’s a different thing."
The latest gaffe came when responding to Today Show Host Matt
Lauer, who inquired of Biden, "This is by no means a 'gotcha' type
of question… But if a member of your family came to
you… and said, 'Look, I want to go on a commercial airliner
to Mexico, and back within the next week,' would you think
it’s a good idea?"
Air travel industry condemnations followed in short order,
especially when he facts of the matter came under review. The
obligatory apologies started within the better part of an hour and
were typical of a White House statement that came via a government
spokesperson rather than the outspoken VP himself, “On the
Today Show this morning, the vice president was asked what he would
tell a family member who was considering air travel to Mexico this
week. The advice he is giving family members is the same advice the
administration is giving to all Americans: that they should avoid
unnecessary air travel to and from Mexico. If they are sick, they
should avoid airplanes and other confined public spaces, such as
subways. This is the advice the vice president has given family
members who are traveling by commercial airline this week. As the
president said just last night, every American should take the same
steps you would take to prevent any other flu: Keep your hands
washed; cover your mouth when you cough; stay home from work if
you're sick and keep your children home from school if they're
sick.”
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