American Airlines AAL,
It has come under scrutiny for its decision not to block intermediate seats on flights in the name of preventing coronavirus transmission, but many other airlines have taken the same stance.
The airline announced last week that starting Wednesday, July 1, it will resume booking flights at full capacity.
Previously, the airline had said it would limit its flights to 85% of its capacity and block certain seats to guarantee social distancing on board its plane. In the future, passengers will receive an alert if their flight is going to be full and will be given the opportunity to change flights at no charge.
In addition to American, other airlines that are not limiting flight capacity or blocking seats include United UAL,
Allegiant ALGT,
Spirit SAVE,
and Sun Country.
The move has drawn criticism from public health experts. “We don’t think it’s the right message,” said Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday. “It is really important that people, whether [they’re in] a bus, a train or an airplane are a social distancing as far as possible. “
Delta is one of the few US airlines that blocks middle seats on its flights to promote greater social distancing on board planes during the coronavirus pandemic.
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During that same hearing, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the change in policy in the United States “is somewhat concerning.” Both Fauci and Redfield made the comments in response to a question from Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Who asked why the government was not working to stop “that kind of activity.”
An American Airlines spokesman said the company was “firm” in its commitment to safety. “We know that our customers trust us to make all aspects of their trip safe, and we are committed to doing just that,” the spokesperson said in an email.
“We have multiple layers of protection for those flying with us, including required face covers, improved cleaning procedures, and a preflight COVID-19 symptom checklist, and we provide additional flexibility for customers to change their travel plans , too, “added the spokesman.
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Three other airlines made moves to reduce capacity: Alaska Airlines, Frontier Airlines and Southwest.
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American Airlines is not alone in its position. In fact, only three US airlines: Delta DAL,
HA Hawaiian,
and JetBlue JBLU,
– have completely blocked intermediate seats on their domestic flights, substantially reducing the capacity of their aircraft.
Three other airlines have taken steps to reduce capacity.
Alaska Airlines ALK,
blocks “select” seats.
Frontier Airlines locks 20 of its intermediate seats per flight to offer customers the option of purchasing a seat that will be more socially distanced. On one of the typical airline planes, one in five seats has a guaranteed half-empty seat next to them. “This is a confirmed action we take on every flight, not a ‘we will do our best’ scenario,” Jennifer de la Cruz, director of corporate communications for Frontier, told MarketWatch.
Southwest Airlines LUV,
He has promised that none of his flights will be booked more than two-thirds in full until September 30. However, Southwest does not assign seats, so the intermediate seats remain open, but passengers at a social distance are encouraged as much as possible when boarding.
But experts have also questioned the effectiveness of social distancing on planes as an approach to curb transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19 on planes. To reduce the probability of exposure to a very low level, “I would need to make the density of the seats so low that it would be impractical to operate an aircraft economically,” Byron Jones, an engineer and professor at Kansas State University, told the lawmakers during a hearing last week before the House and Aeronautical Subcommittee of the House of Representatives.
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