United Airlines, which brought more travelers to Hawaii than any other carrier pre-pandemic, on Oct. 15 will offer rapid COVID-19 tests to Hawaii-bound customers originating from San Francisco. Lt. Gov. Josh Green, who was among those brokering the deal, said the state has agreed that customers participating in United’s pilot program may participate in the state’s pre-arrivals testing program which begins Oct. 15 and allows passengers to bypass the state’s mandatory 14-day quarantine under certain conditions. “The test is very current so it lowers the risk and it also sets a precedent where I think a lot of other airlines are going to want to do that at their airports,” Green said. “Two or three months from now this might be the standard. Going into the winter and spring of next year people may get very comfortable getting a NAAT test at the airport.” United Airlines, which brought more travelers to Hawaii than any other carrier pre-pandemic, on Oct. 15 will offer rapid COVID-19 tests to Hawaii-bound customers originating from San Francisco. Lt. Gov. Josh Green, who was among those brokering the deal, said the state has agreed that customers participating in United’s pilot program may participate in the state’s pre-arrivals testing program which begins Oct. 15 and allows passengers to bypass the state’s mandatory 14-day quarantine under certain conditions. “The test is very current so it lowers the risk and it also sets a precedent where I think a lot of other airlines are going to want to do that at their airports,” Green said. “Two or three months from now this might be the standard. Going into the winter and spring of next year people may get very comfortable getting a NAAT test at the airport.” “Our new COVID testing program is another way we are helping customers meet their destinations’ entry requirements, safely and conveniently,” Toby Enqvist, Chief Customer Officer at United, said in a statement. “We’ll look to quickly expand customer testing to other destinations and U.S. airports later this year to complement our state-of-the-art cleaning and safety measures that include a mandatory mask policy, antimicrobial and electrostatic spraying and our hospital-grade HEPA air filtration systems.” United offers daily service between San Francisco and Honolulu, Maui and Kona. The carrier has said that it plans to increase service to Hawaii on October 15, including the resumption of service between San Francisco and Lihue and additional flights between San Francisco and Maui and Kona. United said that it decided to expand its testing program after partnering with GoHealth Urgent Care in July to test its international flight crews that were coming into San Francisco. “We are excited about expanding our partnership with United and continuing to support their proactive safety measures,” said Todd Latz, CEO of GoHealth Urgent Care. “Our on-site, real- time testing for passengers is yet another example of GoHealth’s nationwide efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 and ensure a safer return to normal activities and business operations.” The partnership announcement comes after Gov. David Ige’s new emergency proclamation issued Wednesday that extends through Oct . 31 a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers to Hawaii that’s been in place since March 26. However, starting Oct. 15, Ige’s latest order says that “travelers who, upon entry into the state, provide written confirmation from a state approved COVID-19 testing facility of a negative test result from a test administered to the traveler within 72 hours from the final leg of departure, will be exempt from the mandatory quarantine.” The inter island quarantine for travelers arriving in the counties of Kauai, Hawaii, Maui and Kalawao (Kalaupapa) remains in place; however, Ige’s proclamation allows counties to adopt a negative test exception process allowing travelers to bypass the interisland quarantine. United’s pilot program also follows urging from the American Hotel & Lodging Association this week for Congress to pass another round of COVID-19 recovery legislation. According to AHLA’s most recent member survey, 68 % of hotels report they have less than half of their typical, pre-crisis staff working full time, and without further governmental assistance, 74% have said they would need to lay off more. Meanwhile, United was among the airline management and labor leaders who on Tuesday asked federal legislators to extend the airline Payroll Support Program to prevent thousands of involuntary furloughs from taking place on Oct. 1 - Article written by Allison Schaefers from Star Advertiser