How Safe is it to Travel by Air During the COVID-19 Pandemic?
After surpassing the one-year anniversary of a total world lockdown, people like myself with a massive travel bug might be going crazy on being stuck at home for this long. Although flights are still occurring every day, it’s hard to determine the risk from the award. Is it worth taking a flight to lose your life to COVID-19? If you are visiting family, do you want to put them at risk? Let’s dive into airline industry precautions from the first-hand experience.
Yahoo just released an article stating that over 1.5 million Americans took flight yesterday, making it more than any other day in the last year. With the vaccine being administered on a more effective and massive skill. Hopes for a world to return are higher than ever. This point shows us that people are becoming less concerned with air travel. Because they are vaccinated or sick and tired of being told to stay home, this industry is slowly coming back. But is it any safer?
I couldn’t stand it. I have too big of a travel bug and knew if I took a whole year off travel, I would go crazy. I live 2,000 miles away from everything I have ever know, and during a pandemic, all I wanted to do was be closer to family. It wasn’t until late August where I took my first flight. My car had broken down, and I found a really good one at a dealership that my cousin works at 1800 miles away. So I packed a light bag and flew out to my mom’s. We then drove down and got the car, and she helped me drive it back.
When I first arrived at the airport, I was scared to fly. Not about getting covid myself, but getting it and giving it to my at-risk mother. If she passed away because of me, I could never forgive myself. I packed an N-95 mask, which was gold, around August. I had it from when the pandemic broke out and saved it in case of something like this. You never know what direction the world is going, and it’s better safe than sorry. No, I do not mean that when it comes to the toilet paper, it was ridiculous how hard that was to find. I am still salty.
The airlines attempt to take every COVID precaution they can, but you are on an airplane. During my time in the actual airport, I was never close to being six feet from anyone. It wasn’t until they began boarding that all COVID social distancing rules are going out the window. They try to separate people if they can, but there is a chance you will be shoulder to shoulder with a stranger like I was. Some people don’t like to keep their masks on during the flight, but they keep a close grip on those few. Not sure how true this story is, but I was told that a man refused to wear his mask, and they landed the plane early because of it. I am sure the only way these airlines can operate is through close coverage of all CDC guidelines. I had to sit next to someone on one of my flights but was moved on the second. Sometimes they are super strict, and other times not so much. Although the rules remain the same, it’s the flight attendants and pilots enforcing them. Sometimes they just don’t care as much.
The air filtration was a main concern of mine. After all, am I breathing the same air for hours with 30 other people? After further research, I discovered the air on a plane is cleaner than in a store or your house. It made me feel better to know they were strict on a mask over the nose enforcement.
Overall I felt safe. Compared to how close I am with people daily, it wasn’t much worse than that. The first few flights I took were a little concerning, but it isn’t much you can do. The reality of it is if you are going to a store or work, you will get within six feet of people. That is about the only negative aspect of flying during covid. If you are okay with that, then I don’t find many issues with flying. However, if you are at risk or want to play it safe, of course, hold off on travel. I hope this article helps anyone that is thinking of visiting family across the country. I didn’t have time to talk about the international side of things because that’s a whole other boat. Safe travels!
