When would you fly again?
 

Next week?
Next month?
Next year?

Do you think airlines are doing enough for safety?

Share general thoughts please.

I have no desire to sit in an enclosed tube with people who refuse to wear masks.

Whatsup with this Fodors having members start poles? Who are the poles for. What are they used for?

same! Also, the whole airport routine with people right on my tail at check-in and security.

no thanks...

I've been flying the entire time. I fly again tonight. No, the airlines and airports aren't doing enough. The airlines are not enforcing their mask policies for employees or travelers. People have tweeted pictures of United flights going out 100% full this week. American is not spacing either, but giving travelers the option to change to less crowded flights.

My experience last Sunday.
LEX (flight LEX/ATL)
- Delta policy says all employees will be masked and passengers are to be masked (they will provide if you need one).
1. Delta check-in agent - No mask. LEX luggage employee talking to agent - No mask
2. Delta gate agent - No mask
3. About 50% of passengers wearing masks (there weren't many passengers).
4. Delta FA's (there were 2) did have on masks, but during flight, one FA pulled her mask down under her chin and left it there.
5. Some passengers that did have masks waited until at the plane door to put them on and immediately took them off as they exited the plane.
6. Observed American Airlines gates in LEX. Some check-in agents and gate agents not wearing masks. Many passengers not wearing masks.

You know what dogs do to poles :)

ATL - airport Sunday 5/24

1. People masked in the airport was about 50/50. That includes airport employees, airline employees (I observed various airline gates including American, Delta, Sprint gates along with other airlines pilots/FA's walking through the airport), passengers deplaning from them, passengers, fast food employees (not many food or stores are open).
2. Food courts have spaced out their tables a bit and of course, people are not wearing masks to eat.
3. Some bars are open and no real social distancing.
4. Bathrooms do have hand sanitizer on the wall at entrance/exit. There is more cleaning of some gates' counters.
5. Many people wearing masks are not putting them over their nose or wearing them upside down.

Thanks kybourbon. That's discouraging. Very discouraging.

What are you doing individually? I didn't wear masks in March (but will when I resume flying) but washed my hands beford boarding and as soon as I got off the plane. I carried Lysol wipes and wiped down all hard surfaces around me. Tried not to touch soft surfaces or anything other than my phone - which I wiped down with a Lysol wipe.

Are you concerned?

I didn't think I would miss flying but kind of do. Trying to sort out how I feel about getting back on a plane. I'm still avoiding grocery stores so it would be a major jump for me.

I'll fly when I am immune, either the easy way with an effective vaccine or the hard way surviving the disease, and when there is no risk of flying into a quarantine or lockdown or economy closure situation. Short version: Not for a long while.

I flew in March when this all came out. It was before mask wearing. I always travel with hand sanitizer and wet wipes that says kill 99.99% germs. All I could get was get a big container of Colorex wipes so took them too. I debated taking surgical gloves but didn't. It was the first time in a long time, I came home not even with a sniffle which I found odd.

As to when I would fly again? I might in September. I keep going back and forth. I don't expect everyone to be wearing a mask. I don't expect people to wear a mask when eating or drinking. I don't expect a mask wearing person to never take it off. I would do what I can as that is all I can do.

I found flying barely tolerable before, and don't think I'd care to fly again until things are back or close to normal. I don't think I could tolerate wearing a mask for a trans-Atlantic flight (I have a hard enough time wearing one for an hour).

Will fly when there is a proven vaccine. I expect that wont be for at last a year or two.

I'd fly but there is no place to fly to right now. Not a fun experience like it should be so for now I'll keep working on my yard. I'd just love to see my family and I can drive to them.

We are making no plans that involve flying for now, and probably not for quite awhile. Hoping for a vaccine, but who knows when? Our extended family vacation to Kauai for next month has been rescheduled for June 2021. I hope we will feel comfortable enough next winter to make plane reservations for that. Travel has changed, and we will have to wait and see how it goes.

We have been discussing the flying issue a lot because we really want to get from Tucson back to MA in order to get our home ready to sell and to get our cat, as well as to see certain medical providers. None of these are essential but seem pressing. We had been discussing flying, driving in our car, renting a motor home or not going , over the last months.

After very positive reports about flights on SW from several people who flew from here to there, we have decided to fly June 30 and then, of course, quarantine in our home for two weeks. We are not thrilled about it but it seems the best option for us at this point.

Hopefully in September ... to Portugal.

I might fly this autumn, but no booked plans as of yet. Spouse is hoping his trip to the Maldives is still possible in July...and that's a whole lot of flying, some 24 hours on planes. I'm not really comfortable with that.

I flew home from Spain a few days after Covid-19 hit the fan and Spain closed its borders. I had no mask, but wiped down all hard surfaces on the flights, which I've been doing for a few years now. And of course I obsessively washed my hands throughout the trip.

A soon as the quarantine requirement is lifted in Europe, Poland specifically.
I need a break from North America.

Thanks for the details, kybourbon.

I'm trying to make a personal decision. I've expressed interest in a job (same company) that will be mostly driving but has some real pros and cons. Yesterday, I woke up ready to go back to my old job - if that's still an option when my furlough is over. I talked to a friend/co-worker and she's ready to fly again now. Even her husband misses their drop off/ pick up with pups ritual. I really think that most of the work in the rest of the year will be virtual. But "not flying" was really important to me a couple of months ago. I'm very surprised to miss it. I've been very cautious with SIP but I look around at people crowded together for the space launch or going out just to shop and I wonder what the relative risks will be? I'll still avoid crowds as much as possible, but is flying on a plane "safer" than being next to an idiot in the grocery store who just got back from being in the middle of a thousand strangers? I don't know. I have no idea.

I think you may be flying back and forth for elderly parents, and if so, I hope things are going well.

There may never be an effective vaccine.

Having and recovering from Covid may not provide long-term immunity.

I will feel comfortable flying when there is a widespread and sharp decline in new cases in the parts of the world where I live and would like to travel through and to. This is very closely connected to having a sense that there is near universal testing and that governments have plans for dealing rapidly with outbreaks. An acceptance of masks everywhere as a normal, daily necessity would be good. Since none of this is happening yet, I'm not close to considering a trip involving planes, and I don't know what I'd do if I had to travel for work. I'd probably retire.

We have our annual reservation of a cabin in the Eastern Sierra in September, but the trip includes my mother who will be 98, so there's no guarantee now this trip will happen then.

I chose next month which is in 2 days. I have to fly home eventually. I have been at my daughter's apartment in LA for 3 months. I'm ready to fly home to Oregon!!!

Safe travels! I know you will be glad to get back home!

I will probably wait at least a year and see how things look then. I agree we may not have an effective vaccine for a long time but ideally I'd like to see that before flying again. Being able to take the train is also an issue for me as I have often done that between VT where I live and DC where my older son and his family live.
Seeing family and friends is a higher priority for me than travel/sightseeing abroad.

I would get on a plane today if things were open where I wanted to go.

I know the feeling!

It would depend on whether I could get into anywhere I wanted to and the presence or absence of community spread (at both ends). I think it won't be this year, unfortunately. I will stick with a short flight (maybe back to the Yucatan). If longer, I'll finally spring for First Class if it's available.

Friends recently flew back home from Las Vegas via Dallas to LHR to Rome via First Class on AA /Alitalia and had a good experience, Quote "Social distancing and masks at all times". Nothing was open at LHR.

In Italy they were scanned for fever and had to fill out two forms (one to travel across regions to their home). I think some of the forms have disappeared.

I get stressed out enough on a "normal" day of flying; I can't even imagine how wound up I'd be if I had to go through an airport or sit on a plane right now. And since I don't have to, I'm not going to for a good long time.

I'm starting to think maybe next winter or spring I'll be ready to take a train again, especially since there are great offers right now, but I'm really only half-serious about that at the moment. I'm not going stir-crazy or anything, and there's plenty to do right here and nearby, so I'm just going to hunker down, probably for at least a year.

Under two hour flight I would go now. Over two hours after the summer. If they are still offering those free flight changes if the plane is nearly full I would look into that.

I might fly two hours it sonyo SArasota this summer. Both my home and Sarasota airports are small and empty. Sarasota is dead in summer. Desperate for Europe but probably not till next year.

There had better be a vaccine. I hate masks, can't breathe, hate not showing my face, and social distancing makes life not worth living. I don't want to be around mobs of strangers just friends and church family. We are a huggy warm bunch but when we do go back it will be 25, masked and spaced with no fellowship - not fun. So even if I wanted to break social distancing I won't have that choice.

I have flown already a month ago and will fly again on Monday. Flights were full, everyone wore masks at the airports and onboard, the airports were empty (LHR,FRA and CPH), rental car agencies were open, took the ferry to Sweden which was operating as normal (the Danes have been going to/from Sweden to go to restaurants etc for a while athough I believe the Danes are going to close borders to Swedes soon). There were no lines for supermarkets in either Denmark or Sweden but there were social distancing measures.

Not this year , I had a trip canceled in April.

I am not waiting for a vaccine. But I'm not hopping on a plane tomorrow either. I have an Alaska Air credit from a cancelled March Mexico trip that I hope (and I believe is a reasonable possibility) to use before it expires July 2021 for either Hawaii or Mexico.

For current discussion:

https://apple.news/AWM6IFyvCTVqyKr8dviYSCQ

My best, Thai friend e-mailed me the other day and said that the Wuhan-Corona virus situation in Thailand is being handled quite well. She then mentioned that she figures that she and boyfriend will be able to see me in December/January when I'm usually there. I e-mailed back that I won't be stepping onto a plane until 2022 and only if I feel comfortable with doing so then. It's not about being in Bangkok, but about getting to S.E. Asia and dealing with flying and various airport situations as I fly into Singapore and then on to BK hours later and then stay there for 3 weeks and then on to Malaysia for a while and Singapore for 2 weeks or so before flying home All of that flying and airport time could be a lot of exposure to the virus.

While back on the annual, 6-week vacation to S.E. Asia from Dec 2019-Feb 2020 and then flying home from Singapore in Feb, I had my mask on during the entire flight, except for eating, and the woman sitting next to me never took hers off and didn't eat. I was in Premium Economy Class and flying from Singapore-Narita-L.A. and there were about 30% of passengers wearing masks and around the same percentage of flight attendants wearing them at that point. And there was a lot of coughing and hacking of passengers as it was also flu season then. The most coughing and hacking seemed to have been between Narita and L.A. There was a young, 20-something guy at my gate in Narita, and he was coughing and hacking really a lot and no face masks. He got on my flight on to L.A.

When the plane landed in Narita, before flying on to L.A., there was a sea of passengers wearing masks in the airport. I saw them as I was walking to my sushi restaurant inside of Narita Airport before getting back on the same flight to fly on to L.A.

When I got home to LAX, there was no monitoring of temperatures, etc and everything was business as usual except that I had no wait time in the U.S. citizen and I think resident line to get to the passport machine and thus walked straight to it. However, the non-U.S. citizen line looked like Disneyland in July.

Then at the next check point, #2, there was only one person ahead of me. But, the line that was long, was check point #3, the last check point where everyone was together and before being able to exit the immigration area.

The day that I arrived home, was my first day of self-imposed quarantine just to be safe in case I had been infected and was asymptomatic. Then, after 2 weeks, I added an extra week before going up the street to my mom's house to see her. I told her that we'd have to talk on the phone until I felt it OK to come up to the house. I got home in early February and now we have a major pandemic in this part of the world and from what I'm reading, it seems as if airport staff/passengers are still acting as if nothing is going on. Sad. We're in for a long haul with this pandemic situation.

Happy Travels!

I have bought a ticket for August on Jet Blue who seem to have the best policy for flying. When i booked the middle seats were blocked out but now read they are only blocked till July. I paid extra for more room up front which only one time has anyone sat in the middle and he was an employee. Worth the extra money.

Covid is going to get exponentially worse!!

All of that statistical stuff you see hyped on the news every day at present is only comparing "today" (with almost nobody flying) to other past days when almost nobody was flying!


At approximately the moments of the first lockdowns the world was similar to the point at which the music stops in a game of musical chairs. (everyone hustled from that point to get back to wherever "home* is for them). Today's present numbers morphed from all of us being "home". It is when millions of people resume traveling haphazardly around the planet again that will ramp-up the transmission of Covid to levels that the present can't even imagine. (and it has almost nothing to do with "the airline (companies)" - if this were diptheria, it wouldn't be right to blame "United" or "Delta" for diptheria. (that's like blaming Facebook for ones own stupidity) (Do you blame Lufthansa when you catch a cold?) )

Just today, the newspaper in a U.S. city of 200,000 listed the numbers of "new Covid cases by day" and their top 3 single days for "new Covid cases" each occurred SINCE Memorial Day!

(and again, that's with almost nobody having flown anywhere in 2 months)

The numbers to date have been relatively silly when compared with what's to follow.

My experience flying yesterday.

MCO - Arrived just as Spacex was going over. Some people wearing masks, some not. Delta has closed their Sky Priority baggage check (did this about a month ago). At security, there were only a couple of people ahead of me. For those familiar with MCO, there are two security sides with about six TSA agents each side and typically there are lines at all. There was only 1 agent yesterday (I was on the side closest to Delta check in). I noticed a couple of flyers around security not wearing masks (two guys in particular). Security now has plexiglass shields and you scan your own bp. You do have to remove your mask when they check your ID. Clear was closed. I had only one person in front of me for baggage screening. I wasn't around the food court so I don't know if any food kiosks were open in the main terminal.

MCO - side B - I had only a few people in my car on the tram (some masked, some not). Gates 80-89 are still closed off and not being used. No food was open on side B. In the past three months, Starbucks has been open every time I come through there, but not yesterday. The news/sundry store was the only thing open and the smaller version back by the 70's gates. The employee at the one by the gates was not wearing a mask and was instructing people on how to scan their own purchases and bag them. If you want to use a bathroom that is deserted, go to the closed off 80-89 gates as there are bathrooms right before those doors and they are empty.

Delta gates - Only a couple of gates in use. About 50% of people are not wearing masks. . Delta employees were wearing masks this time (half weren't last week). The two guys I saw at security without masks earlier were in my gate area. Boarding back to front by rows called. Medallions board at anytime. Delta handed a Purell wipe at the plane entrance. 150 seats on the plane with 72 passengers (much more than my flights in late March/April) so it appears they are sticking with their covid spacing. I was upgraded to 1st and there were twenty 1st class seats and nine were occupied so it seems Delta. No 1st class service - only the ziplocks with water, Cheezits, tiny packet liquid Purell and Biscoffs (they are back!) . Two people in 1b and 1c weren't wearing masks and another lady in 5b. The people in 1 eventually put masks on at takeoff about thirty minutes later (makes no sense), but the lady in 5b only put one on for takeoff and then removed. I could see one of the guys from security that didn't have a masks sitting a few rows back in Comfort + and still no mask. He did not wear one the entire time. I saw the other guy when we deplaned and no mask. Delta has masks available at the gates. All you have to do is ask. The pilot was not wearing a mask either, but the FA's were and kept them on during the flight this time.

Deplaning Atlanta - Half the people pull their masks off or down as soon as they hit the gangway.

Atlanta airport - I landed at A and most food service is closed (stores have been closed for weeks). Surprisingly, many of the news/sundry stores that had been open the past few months were closed. Chick-fil-A tends to be open and their employees are wearing masks.

Train between concourses - Only a few people in my car. About half not masked.

Southwest C concourse - I got off at C to check out Southwest's employee mask compliance (other airlines it's been hit and miss whether their own employees wear them even though their policies say they are). I did see a couple of Southwest employees no mask or down on their chins. In the Southwest gate areas, passengers were about 50% no masks just like other airlines. I did see two planes disembark and the majority of people getting off had on masks, but many were removing them as they got off. I only saw a couple of people that appeared to have not had any on at all. Still, it appears more compliance than other airlines.

Food in C - I only saw Leeann Chin (masks) and Great Wraps (no masks) open.

D concourse. - 40/40 bar (masks although they were no masks last week), The Market by Food & Wine (no masks) and Famous Famiglia (masks). Five Guys had been open last week (no masks), but weren't this week. If you want alcohol, The Market has always used disposable hard plastic cups, but their employees aren't wearing masks. 40/40 uses glass and I don't imagine the way bars wash glasses it kills covid. You can get bottled beer at 40/40 though.

E concourse - I often hang out at the Piano Bar in E if I have time to kill so I hopped the train to check out E (had a long layover because so few flights available to book). E concourse is entirely closed. Everything. They have built temporary walls closing off access to the gates on both sides and all food places are closed. It did appear you could still walk from the food court area to F (didn't see any temp walls on that corridor), but I didn't attempt it. There was one lonely security guy at the info desk in the entire concourse.

F & T concourses - I understand T is (was?) under construction and I don't know about F. I didn't check either.

Hand sanitizer is on the walls in all bathrooms (silver/black dispensers). Always has been, but I think people don't notice.

Hand sanitizer is also on columns in the various concourse walkways (black dispensers). I don't know if these have always been there and I didn't notice, but they have recently placed big signs above them - "hand sanitizer".

Hand sanitizer that was placed in some food court areas in March is gone.

I was really surprised to see most of the news/sundry places closed as they had tended to mostly be open these last few months and had travel sanitizer and wipes for sale. They also had added surgical masks and cloth masks recently.