Delta launches contact tracing for passengers returning to U.S.

Delta Airlines is partnering with the CDC to keep international customers informed of potential COVID-19 exposure through contact tracing.

Beginning Dec. 15, Delta will become the first U.S. airline to ask customers traveling to the U.S. from an international location to voluntarily provide five pieces of data to aid contact tracing and public health follow-up efforts, including:

Full name
Email address
Address in the U.S.
Primary phone
Secondary phone

“Independent studies have shown that the many layers of protection Delta has already put in place are effectively minimizing the risk of COVID-19 transmission, and contact tracing adds one more important layer to our efforts to ensure safety throughout travel,” said Bill Lentsch, Delta’s Chief Customer Experience Officer. “We want customers to feel safe when they return to travel, and this voluntary program is another way we can provide additional reassurance to customers and employees alike.”

Customers and those in their itinerary can voluntarily participate in Delta’s contact-tracing program if they are:

*Flying on any Delta-operated flight
*A foreign national and/or a U.S. passport holder traveling to the United States as final destination

Under the new process, Delta is working with the CDC to streamline contact-tracing efforts by directly and securely transmitting the five requested customer data points to the CDC via U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This will give the CDC access to the data in moments, dramatically decreasing the time it takes to notify affected customers via local health departments.

Last week Delta announced a partnership with the Aeroporti de Roma and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to launch a first-of-its-kind trans-Atlantic COVID-19 testing program that will enable quarantine-free entry into Italy. As part of this pilot program, contact-tracing information collection will be mandatory for all customers flying to the U.S.