Who is putting your health before their profits?
https://wp.me/paXdM9-Po
Mike
Who is putting your health before their profits?
https://wp.me/paXdM9-Po
Mike
Mike, good overview of those airlines and their attention to passenger safety re the virus. Thanks.
Yesterday I cancelled (boo hoo) next week's Vegas trip. Two of our threesome have minor medical concerns, non covid but who can say what might happen?
Even my Host said "Anybody who comes to Vegas right now is friggin' crazy." That wasn't the trigger, but validated the decision.
Anyway, yesterday around 5 pm I re-booked SWA) for early October, perfect flight times and non-stop. Far enough ahead to count on it, right? Wrong.
Already this morning comes the lovely email from SWA "...changes to your itinerary..." Yikes, less than 12 hours since I booked these! The "changes" are tolerable, still non-stop (the priority), but worrisome. Will there be more?
I'll trust that they (SWA) are doing the best they can to keep all the balls...er...planes in the air.
I'd also like to know, though--do those airlines enforce social distancing, in waiting areas and while lining up to board the plane? Are all staff (stewardesses included) wearing masks at all times? How thoroughly are the planes disinfected? Are they disinfected at every stop? What about intermediate stops where only some passengers get off? Are the newly emptied seats disinfected before the new passengers get on?
What about snack and beverage carts? What about seats in the waiting areas at the gates? What about social distancing at the baggage claim areas?
I just don't think that all these things can really be handled to make air travel even sort of safe. You're in an airport, you're on a plane, you're in close contact with hundreds, even thousands of strangers. Mathematically, many of them will have the virus and be contagious. Let's all effin' stay home.
Just flew Southwest round trip to Myrtle Beach from Indy this past week.
My observations:
1) Social Distancing at the airport is easy - largely because crowds are down by over 70%. I had no problem at any of my gates finding a seat that was within 6 feet from other people. Southwest calls you up 10 people at a time which is different from their normal boarding procedure.
2) Masks are required everywhere and it is enforced. If you pull your mask down you will get an earful and even kicked off the plane.
3) Southwest prvodies sanitized wipes for your seat if you desire them. Most people (myslef included) did not accept them.
4) MIddle seat was open by policy....but it really didn't matter. There weren't enough people to fill even half the seats so getting a whole row to myself was easy. No need for the normal 24 checkin.
5) They sent an email to me saying the air inside the plane is completely exchanged every 5 minutes during flight.
At Myrtle Beach - masks and social distancing were largely embraced at all indoor locations: Grocery stores, restaurants. We mostly ate meals in our unti...or at outdoor restaurants. Nobody had masks on at the beach or pool but social distancing was being recognized.
I'll let you know if I end up getting sick. I made every effort to play by the rules as did almost everyone else.
It was nice to get a change of scenery for a few days.
I've always stayed away from that part of the country during the summer, due to twelve years of hell I spent during one week in Miami and again during another week in Houston. The humidity makes you feel as if someone soaked a blanket in hot water and draped it over your head--and then tied it around you so you can't take it off.
Myrtle Beach is very close to and geographically similar to Parris Island--which was chosen to be a Marine Corps training center precisely because conditions are so miserable there in the summer. I've gone there in the spring, and it was very nice--and very very very very very crowded. Sounds like you didn't experience crowds, anyway.
There probably are plenty of Southwest deals out there and since they are leaving middle seats empty, it's not as horribly dangerous as flying on other airlines might be. Still, though, it's an uncomfortable and hazardous environment to be closely mixed with all those other people, and I couldn't bring myself to do it. I hope you didn't get exposed. In your short trip, you breathed air that had just been exhaled by maybe 1,000 other people. It's like buying fistfuls of lottery tickets and hoping you don't win.
I do understand the need to get away. I'm in the same situation you are--stuck in a small town--and I love to travel, but I just can't force myself to do it, not yet, anyway. I'm guessing a lot of people feel the same way. Thanks for your TR.
Thank you, PJ, for the report. I just canceled our SWA threesome to Vegas because the other two have medical issues, they preferred not to chance it. I think I'd have been OK, but they'd have been on my case the whole time. Appreciate the details about airport, on the plane, and at Myrtle, peoples compliance with masks and distancing.
I was planning an October trip, but that is just too soon. Great time to go also!
Now would be foolish to go to Las vegas. Too bloody hot. In July, I got sun burned on my first day WITH sunscreen in 3 hours just walking around downtown.I could feel my skin sizzle.
I can wait this out until 2021, Guys. My buddy want to go then as well.March-April is good weather.
Most people in Seattle are very good about masking up. Outside in public, not so much. Fools.
In very cold weather, do you see how far your breath travels?
2 masks in my car and one in my pocket, in a baggie.Handy wipes all over the house and I use 90% isopropyl in a spray bottle around my place everywhere.
The city has closed some of the side streets to vehicular traffic. Not good for USPS mail and other delivery services. They are all late!Maybe a day or 2.
When I go shopping, I get WAY too much food and my freezer is always packed full. My little car can hold only so much food and beer.
My grocery stores have a line up of sanatized carts to use.The ones in the parking lot have not been sanitized.
ONE WAY isles inside the store. I'm actually getting used to these new rules.
One poster said "Mask it or get a casket"! DAMN.
Thanks for the feedback.
I didn't notice much on the airlines enforcing social distancing in the airport, but I agree that it's hard for them to do so.
Dave, we were also thinking of a trip to Las Vegas in October, which we do every year. Sadly, I don't think it's going to happen in 2020.
Mike
EYE can wait until 2021 in March,Mike.
October would be REALLY good, too!
https://i.imgur.com/L1bXX3j.jpg
Southwest is changing our itineraries every time, and not for the better. Have two flights/trips on the books, going to cancel both. Tired of this, too much trouble to hunt down the best dates/times/non-stops/ prices, get three of us booked, book the hotels, only to have it all turned upside down...worse hours, intermediate stops. Without alcohol on board not worth the trouble. May not try until next year. I want to support the airlines and the casinos with my donations, but SWA is making it impossible! LOL.
Candy
