Is Flying Safe?

The short answer is that flying is not completely safe while in a pandemic, but neither is any other activity. Charles Bailey, MD, medical director of infection prevention at St. Joseph Hospital and Mission Hospital in Orange County, California, told Health that the risk of getting the virus on an airplane "is probably low but not negligible." He believes that the risk will be reduced due to all of the safety measures that airlines are implementing.

What are these safety measures? I will tell you.

TSA has updated their security procedures to include visual reminders of appropriate spacing on checkpoint floors and staggered lanes. Passengers will not hand their boarding pass to the security agent, but instead hold it up for the agent to inspect and hold it on the reader themselves. All TSA officers are required to wear face masks and gloves, and passengers will be asked to place belts, wallets, keys, and phones directly into their carry-on bags to reduce touch points during screening.

Generally, most airlines have agreed to minimize the number of passengers per flights and space them out as much as possible. United Airlines has even promised to contact passengers 24 hours before their flight time if their flight is fairly full, and they can change their flight (with no added fee) or receive a travel credit if they cancel it. Many airlines (such as JetBlue and United) have said that they will check the temperatures of their staff regularly. Frontier Airlines has even committed to taking passengers' temperatures!

United Airlines is providing hand sanitizer wipes and disposable face coverings (if needed) to every passenger upon boarding. Delta has revealed that they will implement electrostatic spraying, which sprays powerful disinfectant onto every surface a passenger might touch. Airplanes also have HEPA filters, which remove more than 99.99% of particles (including viruses) and mix the air in the cabin with fresh air from outside. United Airlines has gotten rid of the complimentary snack and beverage and instead replaced it with a snack bag consisting of a wrapped sanitizer wipe, a bottle of water, a cookie, and a package of pretzels.

Some last precautions you may want to remember if flying this summer. After security, wipe off your phone and ID. Keep sanitizing your hands and do not touch your face when waiting at the gate or passing through the airport. Try your best to get a window seat, because window seats have contact with the least amount of people. I would also advise, do not eat any food that they give you not because the food would be contaminated, but because taking off your mask can be risky. Also, before flying domestically, check to make sure that the state you are flying to hasn't implemented a 14 day quarantine period for out-of-state travelers (such as Hawaii, Alaska, or Vermont), and that the place you are traveling to has a somewhat low rate of cases. People that are immunocompromised and wanting to travel should also remember that there is a higher risk for them.

Stay safe!

Source: https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/is-it-safe-to-fly-air-travel

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