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PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island: Millions of Americans bought tickets to fly somewhere for Thanksgiving (Nov. 26) before the nation’s top public health agency begged them not to travel on vacation.
So what are they doing now? In many cases, they continue to crowd airports and board airplanes. That’s despite the relatively lenient cancellation policies that major airlines have put in place since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged earlier this year.
“Consumers should feel comfortable changing their plans and canceling their flights if they need to for health reasons,” said John Breyault of the National Consumers League.
Most airlines won’t pay cash to refund a flight if you choose to heed national health warnings, but they waive the fees and offer coupons. Breyault said to “familiarize yourself with the policies” because coupon details vary by airline and may depend on when the ticket was booked.
It is unclear how many people accept these vouchers. Images that emerged last weekend of crowded airport terminals showed that there are a lot of people flying anyway.
More than 2 million people were screened at US airports last Friday and Saturday, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
While that’s much lower than during the same period last year, Friday was only the second time since mid-March that daily airport checks passed a million.
A day earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Americans should avoid Thanksgiving trips and not spend vacations with people outside of their home.
The nation’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Sunday he is concerned that cases of overcrowding at US airports due to Thanksgiving travel could lead to a dangerous situation as that increase the cases of COVID-19.
Fauci told CBS ‘Face the Nation’ that people at airports “are going to get us into more trouble than we are now.”
He said the new Thanksgiving Day COVID-19 cases won’t become apparent until weeks later, making it “very difficult” as the virus spirals out of control and heads toward colder weather and December holiday season.
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For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that go away in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more serious illnesses, including pneumonia, and death.
Airlines have emphasized what they are doing to sanitize doors and kiosks, shorten lines and meetings, and purify the air. But most also offer opportunities for people to skip their vacation flights and travel later, although travelers may have to pay more for the replacement flight if it is more expensive.
Some have argued that airlines should do more.
US Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts who has lobbied for cash refunds for skipped flights during the pandemic, said people who abandoned their Thanksgiving trip are doing the right thing and following public health guidelines.
“Airlines, which have already received billions in government bailouts, should provide passengers with cash reimbursements when they spend the holidays without family and economic certainty,” he said in an emailed statement Sunday.
For those still traveling, the TSA said it had prepared for increased traffic this week, increasing staffing levels to keep lines shorter and maintain social distancing.
“We have been handling passenger volumes reaching more than 900,000 per day frequently since the beginning of October,” the agency said in an emailed statement Sunday.
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