OT - Flying during the pandemic

[gdw]

I have to travel from Denver to the east coast this week and would like to minimize my waiting time in the terminal before the flight. Are the airlines still recommending that passengers arrive at least two hours before their flight departs?

[reconstyle]

Originally Posted by gdw

I have to travel from Denver to the east coast this week and would like to minimize my waiting time in the terminal before the flight. Are the airlines still recommending that passengers arrive at least two hours before their flight departs?

I've flown domestically 3 times since May and normal security lines at the airports I was at was never longer than 5 minutes. I have pre-check and I never check a bag, so with no security wait times, I show up to the airport about 45 min before the scheduled departure time.

Check your departure airport website, they usually have wait times listed somewhere.

edit: Also, the airports are super empty, even if you are early you'll have no problem finding a place to sit and wait without anyone within 20ft of you.

[merlinmurph]

Flying? Ouch, good luck.
We just came back from a trip to Savannah GA to visit my dad, a trip normally serviced by a
cheap JetBlue direct flight. We drove 1000+ miles.

Sorry, I'm not being judgemental, just saying what we ended up doing. You have to do what you have to do.

Again, good luck.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by merlinmurph

Flying? Ouch, good luck.
We just came back from a trip to Savannah GA to visit my dad, a trip normally serviced by a
cheap JetBlue direct flight. We drove 1000+ miles.

Sorry, I'm not being judgemental, just saying what we ended up doing. You have to do what you have to do.

Again, good luck.

In spite the airlines saying their 'filtration' is 'really good'...sit in a can for hours that close to somebody else? No thanks.

[rockdude]

I flew a month ago, Airport empty, no lines at TSA and Southwest had open middle seats. One guys kept putting his mask below his nose, the flight agent told him if he did it again she would have him kicked off the flight. In the air port there were maybe 1 in 30 that were walking around with their mask down. I felt mostly safe.

[fijichf]

I flew 4 legs earlier this week for the first time in 7 months and the airports and planes were not crowded of course. I fly Delta and they blocked out the middle seats. I didn’t see anyone in either the airports or the planes, who was not wearing a mask and I felt that Delta handled the cleaning of the planes and the boarding and exiting process very well.

[Red Tornado]

Traveled from Texas to Indiana around Labor Day. Flew in/out of smaller airports (Waco & Fort Wayne), so not huge crowds at security. Both were very organized and moved well, tho.

What struck me was how absolutely dead DFW airport was during the day. I knew it would be quiet, just not that quiet. Everyone wore masks and sanitizer everywhere and generally people were considerate and seemed to be using common sense.

In general, the planes "appeared" cleaner and smelled like sanitizer, so I guess they were doing something extra. I would think there would be a higher likely hood of catching covid from a surface contaminated after sanitizing than breathing it in on the plane. I've heard that air is filtered very well. If that's true, physical contact with a surface or person would be my worry.

Made the trip and didn't catch covid. Woohoo!

[verticaldoug]

You should try flying international now. It is an utter ghost town. As impossible as it seems, International flights are probably emptier now than at the end of March/early April when people were repatriating.

I flew JFK to LHR in early September and maybe 40 people on the plane.

My wife flew from Newark to LV last night, Jet Blue had all middle rows open.. She said it felt okay. Security line was super fast and non existent.

I rather fly than eat in a restaurant.

[jkbrwn]

Originally Posted by verticaldoug

You should try flying international now. It is an utter ghost town. As impossible as it seems, International flights are probably emptier now than at the end of March

Good to hear. My Mum and Aunty are flying LHR > LAX to visit me next week as I've not seen them for over a year. I am however slightly worried given they're both in their sixties. This fills me with a little more confidence.

[verticaldoug]

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

Good to hear. My Mum and Aunty are flying LHR > LAX to visit me next week as I've not seen them for over a year. I am however slightly worried given they're both in their sixties. This fills me with a little more confidence.

I fly BA into Terminal 5. The terminal is basically empty. This is American, Iberian, Finnair, BA all code share.

I can't vouch for Virgin Atlantic which flies out of Terminal 3, but I can't expect much difference.

I even took Heathrow express. It was empty.

Hopefully, then your Mum and Aunty fly back, the UKGOV has figured out the PCR testing for them. Currently, you are suppose to fill out a form before boarding, and then quarantine for 2 weeks upon arrival back in UK which is a hassle. . .

[cgates66]

Originally Posted by gdw

I have to travel from Denver to the east coast this week and would like to minimize my waiting time in the terminal before the flight. Are the airlines still recommending that passengers arrive at least two hours before their flight departs?

DIA is huge (that is, volumetrically very large so low density of exhalation in any given cubic meter of air). Is it possible to avoid the train for the outer terminals? I'm not aware of any cases of COVID transmission "in flight" other than a couple on the rescue flights out of Wuhan back in February. I'm sure there have been some, but as long as you mask up, I wouldn't imagine that the risk is particularly high - at least from a DIA / en route perspective.

Where you land...I don't know.

Personal opinion is that conference rooms are not great, but planes are probably okay, due to constant air filtration / recycling (I think the "air duration" in a plane is 3 minutes or so but it varies).

[ridethecliche]

If you're worried about it, get an n95.
If you can only find one with a valve, wear it with a face mask over it.

If this is something you're going to be doing often, get an envo mask and wear a paper mask over it.

[jkbrwn]

Originally Posted by verticaldoug

I fly BA into Terminal 5. The terminal is basically empty. This is American, Iberian, Finnair, BA all code share.

I can't vouch for Virgin Atlantic which flies out of Terminal 3, but I can't expect much difference.

I even took Heathrow express. It was empty.

Hopefully, then your Mum and Aunty fly back, the UKGOV has figured out the PCR testing for them. Currently, you are suppose to fill out a form before boarding, and then quarantine for 2 weeks upon arrival back in UK which is a hassle. . .

With most T3 flights being over 4 hours long (e.g. long haul), I suspect it'll be much the same. Fortunately, they're both U.S. citizens with stamps of indefinite leave in the U.K., so will at least have no issues getting into the U.S. or back home. They are also both retired so are more than able and willing to quarantine for 2 weeks.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by cgates66

(I think the "air duration" in a plane is 3 minutes or so but it varies).

A friend of a friend is an engineer at Boeing, and he insists that because of the top-to-bottom airflow in modern airplane ventilation systems, you're not in any danger of being exposed to viral load from passengers even only one row in front or one row behind you.

Make what you will of that. :::raises eyebrow:::

[barnabyjones]

Originally Posted by merlinmurph

Flying? Ouch, good luck.
We just came back from a trip to Savannah GA to visit my dad, a trip normally serviced by a
cheap JetBlue direct flight. We drove 1000+ miles.

Sorry, I'm not being judgemental, just saying what we ended up doing. You have to do what you have to do.

Again, good luck.

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

In spite the airlines saying their 'filtration' is 'really good'...sit in a can for hours that close to somebody else? No thanks.

No one is being infected on planes. No documented infections. The "risk" is the airport (terminals, TSA interrogation rooms) and even there the risks can be easily mitigated. Not unlike going to the market which many of us have done 20x plus times now.

A colleague's wife became infected while avoiding the CA lockdowns at her ranch in a developing nation. Her personal physician, ie, the type of doctor the wealthy retain in these places of inequity, recommended that she return to the US as a precaution as ICU capacity was limited where she was hiding. She flew back to CA and within a day was admitted to the ICU. How this woman was able to hide her deteriorating condition at the airport and on a plane is a mystery. What's not a mystery is that she didn't infect a single passenger. She passed away at 59 after spending nearly 2 months in a California ICU. We were fortunate that "we flattened the curve" here and this irresponsible woman didn't rob a deserving person of an ICU bed

Anyway, I don't get how people can still be so terrified of every (unlikely) infection scenario 9 months into this s-show.