US Ban Covers Flight Crew

The ban on US travel for passport-holders of seven Middle Eastern and African states applies to airlines' flight crew, the International Air Transport Association said in an email to carriers around the world on Saturday. The email said Friday's executive order from US President Donald Trump caught airlines unprepared, Reuters reported. US Customs and Border Protection briefed IATA in a Saturday afternoon conference call about the new rules, the email said, noting that passport-holders from states such as Iran, including cabin crew, will be barred from entering to the US. The email underscores airlines' confusion about the situation as well as the challenge some may face from crew scheduling. Airlines also stand to lose business: For instance, around 35,000 travelers from Iran visited the United States in 2015, according to the US Department of Homeland Security.