Every once in a while, social media lights up with photos or video from flights that are nearly full, with passengers clearly violating advice from public health officials about social distancing during the Coronavirus pandemic.
That raises the following questions:
How can planes still be full when air travel is down more than 90% from a year ago?
In some cases, airlines are creating the crowds by cancelling other flights and packing passengers on the few remaining planes. Carriers say, however, that they are taking action to ease passengers’ fears about Coronavirus contagion. Some are blocking middle seats — or letting passengers pay extra to guarantee an empty seat next to them. They are also starting to require passengers to wear facial coverings.
So why are some flights full?
Partly it is due to the high number of cancelled flights.
Airlines slash their flight schedules, and then they cancel even more flights in the last few days before departure. That can force passengers who were booked on several different flights to board the same plane.
Planes are more likely to be crowded on certain routes, especially those between so-called hub airports operated by the same airline.
What about face masks?
Most leading airlines have announced plans to start requiring passengers to wear facial coverings during flights.
Airlines say they won’t let customers without masks board a plane. Small children and people with medical conditions that make a mask hazardous will generally be exempt, and others will be allowed to briefly remove coverings while eating or drinking.
The airlines are also requiring crew members to wear face masks.
How do airlines clean planes?
Every airline says it has stepped up the cleaning of plane cabins to help prevent spread of the Coronavirus. Some are using misting machines to spray anti-viral chemicals inside the cabin.
Airlines insist that the air inside their planes is safe to breathe. Cabin air on most planes is a mix of fresh air from the outside and recirculated air that is passed through high-efficiency or filters designed to trap most airborne particles.
How long will these changes last?
Until there is a proven treatment or widely available vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new Coronavirus, the changes are likely to stay in place.
If people start venturing out on airplanes this summer, it won’t look anything like summer 2019.
Traffic “will be light, you will have to wear a mask, there will be social distancing on planes and reduced on-board service to limit contact,” experts say. ”If there really isn’t a vaccine until the first half of next year, you’re not going to see anything approaching a new normal until next summer at the earliest.”
