Assistant Vice President of Preparedness, Resiliency and Emergency Management (PREM) Stephanie Murphy, MS, CEM,was featured in The Washington Post’s article titled, “The GAO told the government in 2015 to develop a plan to protect the aviation system against an outbreak. It never happened.”

«Stephanie Murphy, a former emergency management official at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said that airports now are generally in a good position to handle sick passengers but that planning for how to keep operations going with large numbers of absences has lagged at some smaller airports. Murphy, now a consultant, has been working during the coronavirus outbreak to help airports ensure they can stay open. ‘The beautiful piece and part is that we are having these conversations,” she said. “That’s a positive thing.’»

This article discusses:

  • The idea of a national plan for protecting the aviation industry against outbreaks/pandemics
  • Who/what department or government agency should be responsible for crafting such a plan
  • Public health concerns for passengers
  • The cost and timeline of implementing such plans, and more

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

For more disaster preparedness and recovery information, materials, and resources on this pandemic, visit our COVID-19 page.