COVID-19: Federal Efforts and Stakeholder Views on Expediting the Transportation of Personal Protective Equipment

GAO found that FEMA's Project Airbridge funded 437 flights transporting about 1.2 million units of PPE from overseas in the pandemic's early months, while FAA rules let airlines carry cargo in passenger cabins. Ports also used informal methods like 'peel piles' to pre-sort priority containers for faster access.

Most of the 21 industry stakeholders GAO interviewed said they didn't think a bigger federal role was needed, and some warned it could have caused delays at ports, arguing the private sector was better positioned to lead.

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