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(Adds comments from Delta's pilot union, Fitch Ratings)
By Tracy Rucinski and Laurence Frost
CHICAGO/PARIS Jan 30 (Reuters) - Pilots and flight
attendants are demanding airlines stop flights to China as
health officials declare a global emergency over the rapidly
spreading coronavirus, with American Airlines' pilots
filing a lawsuit seeking an immediate halt.
China has reported nearly 10,000 cases and 213 deaths, but
the virus has spread to 18 countries often by plane passengers.
The Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents
American Airlines pilots, cited "serious, and in many ways still
unknown, health threats posed by the coronavirus" in a lawsuit
filed in Texas, where the airline is based.
American said it was taking precautions against the virus
but had no immediate comment on the lawsuit. On Wednesday it
announced flight cancellations from Los Angeles to Beijing and
Shanghai starting next month, but is continuing flights from
Dallas.
APA President Eric Ferguson urged pilots assigned to
U.S.-China flights to decline the assignment. In a statement,
the American Airlines' flight attendants union said they
supported the pilots' lawsuit and called on the company and the
U.S. government to "err on the side of caution and halt all
flights to and from China."
Pilots at United Airlines, the largest U.S. airline
to China, concerned for their safety will be allowed to drop
their trip without pay, according to a Wednesday memo from their
union to members.
United announced on Thursday another 332 U.S.-China flight
cancellations between February and March 28, though it will
continue operating roundtrip flights from San Francisco to
Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
The American Airlines pilot lawsuit came as an increasing
number of airlines stopped their flights to mainland China,
including Air France KLM SA, British Airways,
Germany's Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic.
Other major carriers have kept flying to China, but
protective masks and shorter layovers designed to reduce
exposure have done little to reassure crews.
A U.S. flight attendant who recently landed from one major
Chinese city said a big concern is catching the virus and
spreading it to families, or getting quarantined while on a
layover.
"I didn't understand the gravity of the situation until I
went there," she said on condition of anonymity, describing
general paranoia on the return flight, with every passenger
wearing a mask. "Now I feel like I'm on a 14-day countdown."
Thai Airways is hosing its cabins with
disinfectant spray between China flights and allowing crew to
wear masks and gloves.
Delta Air Lines is operating fewer flights and
offering food deliveries so crew can stay in their hotels.
The carrier is also allowing pilots to drop China trips without
pay, a memo from its union to members said.
Korean Air Lines Co Ltd and Singapore Airlines
are sending additional crew to fly each plane straight
back, avoiding overnight stays.
The South Korean carrier also said it was loading hazmat
suits for flight attendants who might need to take care of
suspected coronavirus cases in the air.
Airlines in Asia are seeing a big drop in bookings along
with forced cancellations because of the coronavirus outbreak,
the head of aircraft lessor Avolon Holdings Ltd said, adding the
impact could last for some months.
The outbreak poses the biggest epidemic threat to the
airline industry since the 2003 SARS crisis, which led to a 45%
plunge in passenger demand in Asia at its peak in April of that
year, analysts said.
Fitch Ratings said airlines with more moderate exposure to
China and the Asia-Pacific region were likely to be able to
re-deploy capacity to alternative routes to mitigate the effect
on traffic, but that could increase competition on those routes
and reduce airfares.
Air France, which maintained China flights throughout the
SARS epidemic, suspended its Beijing and Shanghai flights on
Thursday after cabin crews demanded an immediate halt.
"When the staff see that other airlines have stopped flying
there, their reaction is 'Why are we still going?'," said Flore
Arrighi, president of UNAC, one of the airline's four main
flight attendants' unions.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski, Laurence Frost and David
Shepardson; Additional reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal,
Aradhana Aravindan, John Geddie and Anshuman Daga in Singapore,
Chayut Setboonsarng and Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok, Caroline
Pailliez in Paris, Josephine Mason in London, Jamie Freed in
Sydney and Joyce Lee in Seoul; Writing by Jamie Freed and Tracy
Rucinski;
Editing by Marguerita Choy and Lisa Shumaker)
