joining me now is sarah nelson, the president of a union that represe represents airline employees. good to see you again. >> good to see you, ali. >> sarah, let's talk broadly about this. when you were involved in the design of this plan in the early days, we were at a point in which everybody came together and understood the degree to which we were in a crisis. as often happens, as we get further from the beginning of this, even though we're setting records for the number of people getting coronavirus, which is no good for the travel industry, the feeling of emergency is wearing off for some. there aren't replacement plans in place for airlines. this predicament could continue for over a year. how should we be thinking about this? >> well, we're on the edge of a cliff here, ali. if we don't get extended funding, we are going to have millions more on the streets. we're going to have millions of evictions, people who can't pay their rent or put food on the table. there's going to be a world of hurt. there doesn't seem to be a recognition the threat here in the virus. we don't have a

my name is sarah nelson. i'm a union president representing flight attendants across the industry. the coronavirus is by far the largest crisis ever experienced in aviation. we must make substantial changes. just as we did under the leadership of president george w. bush in the aftermath of 9/11 , starting with new emergency ascedures and acted as early september 12, 2001. airlines have been responsive to our concerns on certain safety policies. all major airlines have put in place the requirement of masks in the airport and on the plane. after nearly 120,000 americans have died, no contact tracing or containment in place, we are just now in phase three of these requirements. without instruction from government and airline passengers and crew, flight attendants are left to manage a hodgepodge of airline policies on the front lines. most travelers comply with masked requirements, but conflict still flares up as some are led to believe masks are a political statement rather than for public safety. safety is built with a layered approach. this is why we have a department of transporta

sarah nelson from the association of flight attendants, the president, i'm assuming you support that h. >> we have asked the federal government to make this a mandate. >> neil: a lot of passengers say, once we are on the plane, you know, we have our meal or whatever, we don't think that we need to wear it on the but not for a long stretch. what do you say? >> what i have to say is there is no way to properly socially distance on a plane. we have to have other safety features just like other things that you are not used to doing in other places like having to wear your seat belt and picking your bag underneath your seat and putting your your tray table up. these are all requirements when you travel in the air, because these are not normal space. if everyone is wearing a mask, public health officials say is that that will decrease the ri risk. if one person is not wearing a mask, that puts everyone at risk. we all have to be in this want to get there. that is why the mask policies are in place. people are going to have to take a drink and probably have to eat something. not all flights

sarah nelson is the international president of the association of flight attendants.od to see you. >> good to see you. >> so how comforting might this be to you to hear that there might be this contact tracing app that airlines would want to use to see, you know, what the condition of these passengers are and what is being brought to any of these planes? >> well, let's be really clear. we heard a december 1st deadline on that. we have had no action on a federal plan to address the issues of coronavirus and how to have a plan in aviation to ensure that we're stopping the spread. the airlines have taken it upon themselves to put mask policies in place and to require this of passengers in the airport and on the planes. that was a huge step forward. we need a federal mandate on that though and we need a federal coordinated effort here to put in place all kinds of policies that will help to contain coronavirus. so contact tracing is incredibly important but there's a lot of other steps to put in place here to make it effective. >> for example, you mean like the wearing of

and it's a smart thing to do to help them get through this crisis >> we had sarah nelson on the shows the president of the international association of flight attendants, and she said there should be a federal rule for masking, something she has been pushing for also trying to get masks, make sure that everybody has access to masks, possibly n95 masks the airlines have not been as public themselves about this have you pushed this -- pushed for this rule to be effective? >> we believe that masks are helpful, without a doubt one of the things we say is start with a mask. now whether it's a federal regulation or not, i'm not a big believer that we need federal regulations to implement the obvious. i think people realize that it is the smart and safe thing to do and i believe that people who don't follow that, there has to be a consequence but the reality is that -- i think that the vast, vast majority of people realize that when you fly or in other situations wearing a mask is smart. >> if there's no consequence -- if there's no consequence and there -- then why wouldn't you -- you said