The most surprising thing about flying during the pandemic

• The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way I travel with a new focus on safety that alters the way I approach flight.
• However, after taking seven flights in June, I was very surprised by the lack of changes from some airlines and airports, even though COVID-19 cases increased across the country.
• I found that busier airports and bigger airlines are doing less when they should be doing more.
• Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.

Flying a lifetime could not prepare me for the coronavirus pandemic and how it would change the way we approach the heavens.

In June, I flew on the country’s four largest airlines with flights on American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines. With the largest number of planes and routes, these airlines are industry leaders and generated billions of dollars in annual revenue before the pandemic saw them lose millions every day.

Before the pandemic, flying for me was as easy as riding a bike, as I had come to know the airline industry inside and out after taking countless flights. He often booked the cheapest flight on any airline, arrived at the terminal just a few minutes before boarding, and sped past the airport as George Clooney’s character in “Up in the Air”, still arriving at the gate before they will call my row. .

After my trips in June, it became clear that the trip was going to be different for a while, but what surprised me most was not the adjustments I would need to make, but the lack of adjustments that some of the airlines and airports were making.

This is why.

Not all airlines value security the same way

Thomas Pallini / Business Insider

The concept of security varies from one airline to another. On every trip I made, I went from one airline that was completely obsessed with safety and social distancing to another airline that was less concerned. By going from one directly to the other, it didn’t take long to spot the differences.

On my second flight with American Airlines, for example, I was automatically assigned an intermediate seat when I checked in because I had a basic economy ticket. It was a risk she was willing to take, of course, but there were other seats and full open rows available.

If it hadn’t been for a friendly door agent, I would have had to take the middle seat or hope that I could change seats mid-flight. This happened right after I took a Delta flight where all the intermediate seats and some aisle seats were locked.

American was the only airline where, if it weren’t for the face-covering requirement and in-flight suspension of service, they wouldn’t know a pandemic was happening, especially when the airline began filling flights at capacity beginning July 1. Everything else was the same from the boarding procedure to the basic five-cent economy rules that seek to punish passengers.

Needless to say, I was not surprised when an acting American senator called the airline on Twitter and promised to introduce legislation to block intermediate seats.

The most important conclusion of that experience was that now, safety when flying must be taken into account, not just who has the cheapest price or the best schedule. Choose your airlines wisely.

Airport experience may vary

Thomas Pallini / Business Insider

My first return flight took me from Hartford, Connecticut to Atlanta on Delta Air Lines. As soon as I got to Hartford Airport, I was greeted with a sign reminding me to wear a mask as it would be necessary in the terminal even before I left the parking lot.

I came prepared with a face mask and gladly put it on during the trip to Georgia, as Delta would also require a face cover on board the plane. But as soon as I got off the plane onto the Atlanta airport walkway, that restriction no longer applied since Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport did not require passengers to cover their faces.

While it is a major regional airport, Hartford Bradley International Airport hardly compares to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which was the world’s busiest airport before the pandemic, and I was surprised that the smaller airport requires cladding face, but not the largest.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in June that Atlanta’s main entrance gate had wanted to implement the regulation but was blocked due to the executive order of the Governor of Georgia. A few weeks after that report, the Mayor of Atlanta ordered face masks to be worn in public, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, but not before three Delta passengers who had flown from Albany to Atlanta tested positive for COVID-19 a day after his flight, USA Today reported.

The disparity in airport standards is shrinking as more airports implement standards in practice, but since there is no national standard, don’t expect everyone to wear a mask when it’s not required.