As passengers cautiously return to air travel, there are a few things to keep in mind about flying these days — from middle-seat policies to questions about virus transmission on airlines. After passenger numbers plummeted earlier this year, air travel has taken a significant step forward. On Aug. 16, nearly 863,000 fliers passed through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints around the country, the highest figure since March 17.
Though just one third of last year’s 2.5 million passengers, the traffic is sharply higher than the 87,534 who traveled on April 14 in the depths of the pandemic.
Commercial flights are down 43 percent in the United States, according to FlightAware.com, a service that tracks flights, but that is the best figure since the pandemic began, and up from a roughly 77 percent drop in April.
While the future of aviation remains uncertain — the industry is lobbying for more government funding to ward off future layoffs and route cuts expected when the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding expires Sept. 30 — here are five things we know about flying now.
The middle seat saga continues
After the pandemic hit, three of the four biggest airlines in the country — American, Delta and Southwest — vowed to block the sale of middle seats to provide more social distancing in the air. United Airlines was the sole holdout. Now, American has joined United in selling all available seats on its planes as demand allows, while Southwest has extended its commitment to less density through Oct. 31. Alaska Airlines is also blocking middle seats through Oct. 31, though it says it may make exceptions for unforeseen circumstances, such as accommodating fliers from a previously canceled flight. JetBlue has extended its open-middle-seat policy through Oct. 15, and Delta is leaving adjacent seats open through Jan. 6.
Low fares may not be enough to lure many travelers
Traditionally, fall is a good time to look for cheap airfares and this year is no different. “After Aug. 15, fares go down because college kids and younger children are going back to school,” said George Hobica, the founder of Airfarewatchdog.com, a website that finds flight deals. “They would stay down to Thanksgiving, and then after Thanksgiving to Dec. 14. You could set your almanac by it.”
This year, fares have been low all summer. According to the airfare prediction app Hopper, the current average price for a round-trip domestic ticket is $176, down 38 percent compared to the same time last year when it was $282.
Holiday travel may be cheaper than normal
This year, of course, is like no other, and the number of college students studying from home or families fearful of gatherings may depress holiday travel. Hopper found prices are 30 percent lower presently than they were in 2019 for Thanksgiving travel, with an average round-trip domestic ticket at $216.
At this point, only Delta has committed to blocking middle seats past October. Additionally, flexible policies that waive fees for flight cancellations or changes will expire well before the holiday (except at Southwest, which is the only carrier that does not charge a fee for ticket changes). United is waiving change fees on new bookings through Aug. 31, though travel may take place later. Alaska’s waiver runs through Sept. 8. American and Delta have extended their waivers to Sept. 30, and JetBlue to Oct. 15.
First class doesn’t necessarily guarantee space
Flying back recently from his second home in Tucson, Ariz., to Chicago, George Fink, who works in finance, upgraded to first class on American, using 55,000 miles for the one-way ticket in hopes of having more space. Instead, he found himself with a seatmate wearing a mask that did not cover his nose. He implored his fellow flier, who ignored him, to cover up. He next tried the flight attendant, who would not help. The back of the plane was full, too, making it impossible to move. Then the attendants served a meal.
Experts advise looking for airplane configurations that include single seat configurations. For example, on the Dreamliner that Mr. Hobica, the Airfarewatchdog.com founder, booked from Los Angeles to Newark, the seat configuration in business class was 1-2-1. (Bear in mind that carriers have the right to change aircraft per their contracts of carriage.)
“It’s a good way to fly if you don’t want someone next to you,” Mr. Hobica said.
Calculating in-flight transmission risks
While the airlines tout their HEPA filters, which scrub more than 99 percent of germs in the air, there has been very little data on the risks of catching coronavirus in-flight, even as evidence emerges that respiratory droplets containing live virus may linger in the air in indoor spaces. To date, no super-spreading events have been traced to a flight.
German researchers recently published a study in the JAMA Network on a group of 24 tourists in March who were unwittingly exposed to Covid-19 in Israel a week before flying to Frankfurt on a four-hour-and-40-minute flight carrying 102 passengers. They found two likely cases of virus transmission on the flight, both seated within two rows of an infected passenger. Notably, no one was wearing masks on this flight, which took place before that public health mandate was adopted by airlines beginning in May in the United States.
Contact us for more info or get your travel quote buy using the form on our home page.