@article{75aac114eb014ee99755ac67ac18ea97,
title = "Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on commercial airlines in the United States and implications for the kidney transplant community",
abstract = "Many deceased-donor and living-donor kidney transplants (KTs) rely on commercial airlines for transport. However, the coronavirus-19 pandemic has drastically impacted the commercial airline industry. To understand potential pandemic-related disruptions in the transportation network of kidneys across the United States, we used national flight data to compare scheduled flights during the pandemic vs 1-year earlier, focusing on Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) pairs between which kidneys historically most likely traveled by direct flight (High Volume by direct Air transport OPO Pairs, HVA-OPs). Across the United States, there were 39% fewer flights in April 2020 vs April 2019. Specific to the kidney transportation network, there were 65.1% fewer flights between HVA-OPs, with considerable OPO-level variation (interquartile range [IQR] 54.7%-75.3%; range 0%-100%). This translated to a drop in median number of flights between HVA-OPs from 112 flights/wk in April 2019 to 34 in April 2020 (P <.001), and a rise in wait time between scheduled flights from 1.5 hours in April 2019 (IQR 0.76-3.3) to 4.9 hours in April 2020 (IQR 2.6-11.2; P <.001). Fewer flights and longer wait times can impact logistics as well as cold ischemia time; our findings motivate an exploration of creative approaches to KT transport as the impact of this pandemic on the airline industry evolves.",
keywords = "clinical research/practice, kidney disease, kidney transplantation/nephrology, quality of care/care delivery",
author = "Strauss, {Alexandra T.} and David Cartier and Gunning, {Bruce A.} and Boyarsky, {Brian J.} and Jon Snyder and Segev, {Dorry L.} and Michael Roush and Massie, {Allan B.}",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by grant number F32DK124941 (Boyarsky) and K01KD101677 (Massie) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). This work was supported by grant number K24AI144954 (Segev) from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The analyses described here are the responsibility of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the US Government. The data reported here have been supplied by the Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI) as the contractor for the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). The interpretation and reporting of these data are the responsibility of the author(s) and in no way should be seen as an official policy of or interpretation by the SRTR or the US Government. Funding Information: This work was supported by grant number F32DK124941 (Boyarsky) and K01KD101677 (Massie) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). This work was supported by grant number K24AI144954 (Segev) from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The analyses described here are the responsibility of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the US Government. The data reported here have been supplied by the Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI) as the contractor for the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). The interpretation and reporting of these data are the responsibility of the author(s) and in no way should be seen as an official policy of or interpretation by the SRTR or the US Government. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons",
year = "2020",
month = nov,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1111/ajt.16284",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "20",
pages = "3123--3130",
journal = "American Journal of Transplantation",
issn = "1600-6135",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "11",
}