American Airlines Launches Health Passport to Help Passengers with COVID Test Requirements

American Airlines this week announced that it would become the first U.S. airline to introduce a health passport for inbound travel to the United States, a move it says will help international travelers comply with the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) testing requirements.

American is making the VeriFLY app available for all of its passengers starting on Jan. 23. The app allows users to upload the requirement documentation, including proof of a negative COVID-19 test, they need to enter a destination.

VeriFLY is already using the app for inbound travelers to Jamaica, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

“We’re expanding our work with VeriFLY to quickly evolve our usage of the app and make international travel easier for our customers,” American’s VP of customer experiences Julie Rath said.

“We support the implementation of a global program to require COVID-19 testing for travelers to the United States, and we want to do everything we can to make travel a seamless experience for our customers. We’ve received positive feedback about the app so far and look forward to more customers having the opportunity to use it.”

The test requirement for inbound international travelers was announced this week—on Tuesday, the CDC announced that starting on Jan. 26, all air passengers will have to get a viral test within three days of their flight to the U.S. and bring documentation of either the test (can be electronic) or documentation that they were infected and recovered, to their airline.

Airlines, according to the CDC rules, must then confirm the negative test for all passengers before boarding, and any passenger without the documentation must be denied boarding.

While American is the first airline to adopt the app for its passengers, destinations and resorts in the Caribbean have already started adding COVID-19 testing on-site to accommodate U.S. guests.