Project Airbridge

UPDATE: White House Meets with Supply Chain Distributors on COVID-19

Sunday afternoon, President Trump and supply chain distribution executives announced an important partnership between the federal government and private industry called Project Airbridge which will accelerate the typical 37 days it requires to get supplies by ship from Asia. By partnering with commercial carriers and national health care distribution partners, the supplies will get placed into the healthcare supply chain significantly sooner.

The first commercial carrier flight to New York came from Shanghai and brought supplies for distribution in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The plane carried 80 tons of PPE, including 130,000 N95 masks, nearly 1.8 million surgical masks and gowns, and more than 10.3 million gloves and thousands of thermometers, in addition to other items.

President Trump further thanked leaders from Cardinal Health, FedEx, Henry Schein, McKesson, Medline, Owens & Minor and UPS for their leadership in accelerating the delivery of much needed supplies.

Additional remarks from the meeting included:

  • “Project Airbridge” Begins as First Flight Lands at JFK Airport (Read More from: New York PostNPR, & Reuters)
  • U.S. Navy Hospital Ship “USNS Mercy” Begins Accepting Patients in Los Angeles (Read More)
  • U.S. Navy Hospital Ship “USNS Comfort” to Arrive in New York Monday with Needed Supplies (Red More from: The U.S. Navy, Fox News, & Politico)
  • General Motors Begins Production under Defense Production Act Invocation  (Read More)
  • Other Non-Traditional Suppliers (Boeing, Ford, Honeywell & Hanes) Repurpose Factories to Product Respirators and PPE (View More Non-Traditional Suppliers Here)

Read the full White House transcription of the remarks at WhiteHouse.gov.