Supplemental Brief — Aaron Abadi, Petitioner v. Department of Transportation

ii

/

No. 21-7372

IN THE

Supreme Court of the United States

AARON ABADI,

Applicant,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION,

Respondent.

On petition for writ of certiorari to review a judgment on a petition for review

of agency failure to act, denied by United States Court of Appeals for the

Second Circuit.

SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF FOR PETITIONER

Applicant:

Aaron Abadi (Pro se)

82 Nassau Street Apt 140

New York, NY 10038

Tel: 212-785-0370

aabadi@optonline.net

RECEIVED

APR 11 2022

g,^gfrLHuERCTL5RsK

>

This supplemental brief is presented to the Court to make the Court aware of

a letter recently sent by the major airline association, Airlines for America, to the

President of the United States and copied to many in his cabinet. This letter

requests that the government repeal the mask mandate for airplanes. It says, “Now

is the time for the Administration to sunset federal transportation travel

restrictions- including the international predeparture testing requirement and the

federal mask mandate — that are no longer aligned with the realities of the current

epidemiological environment.”

The letter goes on to say, “It makes no sense that people are still required to

wear masks on airplanes...”

This letter was signed by the CEO’s of many of the major airlines in the

United States, from those same airlines that are denying the rights of the disabled,

such as this Applicant; those same airlines that are creating the situation that

brings this case to the Court. Their disability offices attempt to explain that their

decisions to deny the disabled access to fly with their airline is due to health/safety

concerns for the other passengers. Assumingly, if they read the law, or even cared

somewhat, they’re probably suggesting that a disabled person without a mask poses

a ’’Direct Threat,” defined in the Air Carrier Access Act (“ACAA”) as a significant

risk.

There is no way that the same airline that is requesting from the federal

government to remove the unnecessary mask mandates for all passengers, because

>tv

✓

“an airplane cabin is one of the safest indoor environments, can turn around and

say to the disabled person, “sorry, but you are a direct threat.”

Their denial and or discriminations against this Applicant and those that are

similarly disabled, are just that, “discrimination.” There is no longer the excuse of

safety and health. The Department of Transportation (“DOT”) is responsible to

enforce the ACAA laws and stop such discrimination. The only ones that can help

this Applicant arid others with similar disabilities, is if this Court will make it clear,

by accepting this application for a writ of certiorari and declaring what the law

actually requires.

Respectfully submitted this April 2nd, 2022,

AARON ABADI, Plaintiff

82 Nassau Street Apt 140

New York, NY 10038

Tel 516-639-4100

Email: aa@neg.com

a#*

1

No. 21-7372

IN THE

Supreme Court of the United States

AARON ABADI,

Applicant,

V.

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION,

Respondent.

On petition for writ of certiorari to review a judgment on a petition for review

of agency failure to act, denied by United States Court of Appeals for the

Second Circuit.

SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF FOR PETITIONER

APPENDIX

Applicant:

Aaron Abadi (Pro se)

82 Nassau Street Apt 140

New York, NY 10038

Tel: 212-785-0370

aabadi@optonline.net

April 2, 2022

1

2

/

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Airlines’ Letter to President Biden and his Cabinet

3

3

Airlines for America®

We Connect the World

March 23, 2022

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden Jr.

President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We appreciate your leadership throughout the COVID-19 crisis and now as the country recovers

from the impacts of the pandemic. During the global health crisis, U.S. airlines have supported

and cooperated with the federal government’s measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. We

are encouraged by the current data and the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions from coast to coast,

which indicate it is past time to eliminate COVID-era transportation policies.

Our industry has leaned into science at every turn. At the outset, we voluntarily implemented

policies and procedures -- mandating face coverings; requiring passenger health

acknowledgements and contact tracing information; and enhancing cleaning protocols - to form

a multi-layered approach to mitigate risk and prioritize the wellbeing of passengers and

employees. We supported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as they made

some of these policies federal mandates and imposed additional measures, like predeparture

testing and vaccination requirements for international travelers, in an to attempt to slow the

introduction of variants into the United States.

However, much has changed since these measures were imposed and they no longer make

sense in the current public health context. The persistent and steady decline of hospitalization

and death rates are the most compelling indicators that our country is well protected against

severe disease from COVID-19. Given that we have entered a different phase of dealing with

this virus, we strongly support your view that “COVID-19 need no longer control our lives.”

Now is the time for the Administration to sunset federal transportation travel restrictions

- including the international predeparture testing requirement and the federal mask

mandate - that are no longer aligned with the realities of the current epidemiological

environment.

Predeparture Test Requirement

The predeparture test requirement, imposed to slow the introduction of variants into the U.S.,

has outlived its utility and stymies the return of international travel. The United Kingdom (UK),

the European Union and Canada have recognized this reality and lifted travel restrictions. The

U.S. inconsistency with these practices creates a competitive disadvantage for U.S. travel and

tourism by placing an additional cost and burden on travel to the U.S. Further, many outbound

travelers are not willing to risk being stranded overseas. In the Tenth Meeting of the Emergency

Committee on January 19, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that “the failure

4

March 23, 2022

Page 2

of travel restrictions introduced after the detection and reporting of Omicron variant to

limit international spread of Omicron demonstrates the ineffectiveness of such measures

over time.” The WHO recommended that countries consider a risk-based approach to the

facilitation of international travel by lifting measures, like testing and/or quarantine requirements,

for individual travelers who are fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines listed by the WHO.1

Finally, a recent study by Oxera and Edge Health that examined the effectiveness of travel

restrictions in Europe concluded that such measures have failed to prevent the spread of

COVID-19.2

Mask Mandate

The science clearly supports lifting the mask mandate, as demonstrated by the recently

released CDC framework indicating that 99 percent of the U.S. population no longer need to

wear masks indoors. Several studies completed before we had the added layer of

widespread availability of vaccines, including one from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public

Health3 and another from the U.S. Department of Defense4, have concluded that an airplane

cabin is one of the safest indoor environments due to the combination of highly filtered air and

constant air flow coupled with the downward direction of the air. Lifting the mask mandate in

airports and onboard aircraft can be done safely as England has done. Importantly, the

effectiveness and availability of high-quality masks for those who wish to wear them gives

passengers the ability to further protect themselves if they choose to do so. It makes no sense

that people are still required to wear masks on airplanes, yet are allowed to congregate in

crowded restaurants, schools and at sporting events without masks, despite none of these

venues having the protective air filtration system that aircraft do.

It is critical to recognize that the burden of enforcing both the mask and predeparture testing

requirements has fallen on our employees for two years now. This is not a function they are

trained to perform and subjects them to daily challenges by frustrated customers. This in turn

takes a toll on their own well-being.

The high level of immunity in the U.S., availability of high-quality masks for those who wish to

use them, hospital-grade cabin air, widespread vaccine availability and newly available

therapeutics provide a strong foundation for the Administration to lift the mask mandate and

predeparture testing requirements. We urge you to do so now.

We are requesting this action not only for the benefit the of the traveling public, but also for the

thousands of airline employees charged with enforcing a patchwork of now-outdated regulations

implemented in response to COVID-19.

Respectfully,

1 https://www.who.int/news/item/19-01-2022-statement-on-the-tenth-meeting-of-the-international-healthregulations-(2005)-emergency-committee-regarding-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-pandemic

2 https://www.iata.org/contentassets/31f976cb5de0427cbe4a85958857a472/oxera.pdf

3 https://npli.sph.harvard.edu/resources-2/aviation-public-health-initiative-aphi/

4 https://www.ustranscom.mil/cmd/panewsreader.cfm?ID=C0EC1D60-CB57-C6ED-90DEDA305CE7459D

5

j'

March 23, 2022

Page 3

<-s

0rJ

Ben Minicucci

CEO

Alaska Air Group

W. Douglas Parker

Chairman & CEO

American Airlines

John W. Dietrich

President & CEO

Atlas Air Worldwide

Ed Bastian

CEO

Delta Air Lines

*5at&SZ^

Scot Struminger

EVP & CEO, Aviation

FedEx Express

Peter R. Ingram

President & CEO

Hawaiian Airlines

Robin Hayes

CEO

JetBlue Airways

Gary C. Kelly

Chairman

Southwest Airlines

Scott Kirby

CEO

United Airlines Holdings

Brendan Canavan

President

UPS Airlines

Nicholas E. Calio

President & CEO

Airlines for America

6

March 23, 2022

Page 4

cc:

The Honorable Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Secretary of Transportation

The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security

The Honorable Gina Raimondo, U.S. Secretary of Commerce

The Honorable Ron Klain, White House Chief of Staff

The Honorable Steve Ricchetti, Counselor to the President

The Honorable Jeffrey Zients, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator

The Honorable Brian Deese, Director of the National Economic Council