No more crowded departure gates
I think we’re all pretty much used to the sight of people queueing at departure gates, eager to board first and snatch that popular overhead space for their bags. Well, because of the pandemic, you’ll most likely not going to see crowded jetways for a while. That’s because airlines, such as Delta, have started calling passengers by row instead of by group to prevent them from gathering in large numbers on the jet bridge and in the aisles. Southwest, on the other hand, has been boarding passengers in groups of 10, with people only lining up on one side of its boarding poles. In addition, passengers are boarded from the back to the front of the plane.
Therefore, if you’re planning on traveling anytime soon, expect the boarding process to take a little bit longer than usual. On that note, here are 5 Places It Is Actually Safe to Go During Coronavirus Pandemic.
No more occupied middle seats
When the coronavirus outbreak turned into a pandemic, social distancing rules became stricter than ever. One of the first social distancing measures airlines had to take was leaving the middle seats empty to create more space between passengers. Delta and Alaska Airlines were among the first air companies to block off middle seats on flights, while American, Spirit, and United have quickly followed suit. “The problem is that if you’re sitting next to somebody – 0.6 metres in economy, say – who’s coughing and sneezing in that immediate area, that aerosol will reach you before it has time to reach the filtration system, get filtered and come back down again,” said virologist Dr. Tang.
Even if the travel demand will increase, middle seats might remain unbookable for a while, to the discontent of airline representatives.
“In the near term, a terrified traveling public views people in middle seats as a threat to their health and well-being,” Henry Harteveldt, president of travel analysis firm Atmosphere Research. “It will be interesting to see if people prefer airlines that leave middle seats empty.”
Empty middle seats might affect something that was in the interest of passengers, namely lower fares. “If social distancing is imposed, cheap travel is over,” Alexandre de Juniac, general director of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
