People are pretty terrified about flying during a pandemic, and I totally understand that. Pre-pandemic I would often get sick after flying, and despite my deep love for them, I frequently refer to airplanes as tin cans of germs in the sky.
What You Should Do Pre-Flight
Picking Your Airline
There are a lot of additional steps you can take to minimize your risk of getting sick while flying during a pandemic. The first preflight step would be to research the additional safety measures your airline of choice is taking.
I have been a fan of JetBlue for years, and after this trip I know I’ll continue to choose them as my airline of choice whenever possible.
-Passengers are required to fill out health questionnaire forms when they check in for their flight.
-All middle seats are blocked. When I originally booked my flight, this guarantee was through July 31 but has since been extended through September 8. When I actually got on the plane, the flight crew did everything they could to make sure that everyone had a row to themselves if they wanted it. This was an added step that they definitely didn’t need to do, but I was so impressed that they did!
-All change and cancellation fees are being waived for flights booked through September 8. If it is a voluntary cancellation, you will be issued a refund via travel credits.
-All planes are now being boarded back to front, rather than by group number. The gate agent will announce about five row numbers at a time, starting with those furthest in the back, to allow for increased social distancing.
-Face masks are required for all passengers and crew members at all times (unless you are actively eating or drinking).
-JetBlue has stopped services like the sale of additional food, beverages (including alcohol), and other items like blankets, pillows, and headphones. Instead, they are handing out pre-packaged snack bags 1-2 times per flight. You will receive a zipped plastic bag with a bottle of water, a bag of cheezits, a bag of chocolate chip cookies, and a napkin. I also want to note that about a half hour before boarding begins, the gate agent will make numerous announcements about this change and suggest that you get anything you may need from the shops within the airport.
-All planes are cleaned in between every single flight. I’m typically used to watching passengers get off my plane, then within 15 minutes I get on the plane myself. For both of my flights there was at least 45 minutes in between flights to clean the plane.
-Cabin air is being filtered through hospital-grade HEPA air filters. This results in all of the air in the cabin being replaced roughly every three minutes. I’m not sure if these have always been in place, but it is reassuring to see so much information about their presence now.
This is just a small sampling of the steps JetBlue has taken to ensure the safety of everyone, and you can read more here. This is not sponsored, I just truly love JetBlue that much! (Though if anyone from JetBlue is reading this…hit me up because you’re literally my dream employer 🙂 ).
Packing the Right Things
The second step you can take to ensure your safety is to pack some extra safety measures right in your carry-on and make sure they are easily accessible!
I have always packed things like hand sanitizer and clorox or alcohol wipes in my carry on, but I stepped it up a notch with this trip.
Pandemic Carry-On Packing List
- Hand sanitizer
- Clorox wipes or alcohol wipes to wipe down everything you may come into contact with.
- Lysol spray
- Zinc tablets to boost your immune system while on your trip
- An extra packing cube to put your airplane clothes into so they do not infect anything else
- Face mask for the airplane + a bag to put it into after you leave the airport so it does not infect anything else
- Extra face masks, because at this point you can never have too many
One thing I cannot stress enough is to wipe down your suitcase and bags as soon as you reach your destination. You may be fine, but what if someone that handled your bag at the airport had been exposed to the virus and now your taxi driver touches it and gets infected because you didn’t think to sanitize it first? You can never be too safe, and while you of course want to keep yourself safe you should also want to keep those around you safe.
My Airport Experience
I have some mixed feelings about airports…
I flew from Boston’s Logan Airport, to San Diego International, and back again. Here is what I saw (or didn’t see) in each:
Boston Logan International Airport
I was actually pretty impressed by Logan! There were signs everywhere encouraging social distancing, markings on the floors, everyone was required to wear a mask (and appeared to do so with no issues), and check in was totally touchless.
When I walked up to security, I was not required to show my boarding pass. Instead they had a machine that you, not the TSA agent, put your ID into. It scans it, pulls all your information up on the TSA agent’s screen, they ask you to pull your mask down for a quick second to confirm it is you, then you pull it out and carry on to the security screening area as usual.
Once through security, I went straight to my gait. Along the way I noticed two things: nothing other than Dunkin Donuts and the basic shops were open and I don’t think I noticed a single hand sanitizer station. This was extremely surprising to me, but maybe I just somehow missed them? I did notice that the shops all had clear displays of every kind of sanitizer you would need.
When I reached my gate, I noticed that every other seat was blocked off to ensure social distancing while waiting to board your plane. These weren’t just signs that could be sat on or moved easily, they were kind of like straps across the seats. If you had a family, there was some designated areas specifically for families with seats right next to each other. Everyone did a great job at avoiding these seats if they were traveling in parties of 1-2. As I sat in a seat and waited for my flight, I also saw numerous people going around to sanitize everything. I’ve never seen any kind of maintenance person at an airport before, so this was a welcomed sight to see!
San Diego International Airport
I wasn’t anywhere near as impressed by San Diego as I was with Boston. I thought it would be even better because as I was leaving the airport the first time I had noticed that they had packages of masks which were free for families to take before going further into the airport. But, when I came back for my return flight I didn’t see them anywhere.
There were signs everywhere encouraging social distancing, but going through the airport was the same as any other time: They take your ID, scan it, have you scan your ticket, and go on your way. That was one additional touchpoint that SD had that Boston had taken care of.
Rather than having a separate TSA Pre-Check line like most airports, they had it blocked off and have everyone go through the normal line. When you initially get to security, they hand you a laminated sheet acknowledging your Pre-Check status…which you then hand to someone else when it is time to go through the medical detector. Another additional touchpoint from Boston, and the only one that made me a bit uncomfortable.
Like Boston, every other seat in the terminals is blocked off, but in San Diego they are only blocked off with signs. There are also designated areas for families.
All in all, San Diego Airport was fine, but after the stellar performance by Logan I was a little underwhelmed…and the whole TSA Pre-Check paper thing really bothered me, especially considering the fact that California continues to be considered a “hot spot” for the virus.
Overall Thoughts On Flying During a Pandemic
In general, I felt very safe throughout the entire experience, especially while on my JetBlue flight.
If you are going to make the decision to fly, I cannot stress this enough: Do some heavy duty research on your airline of choice before booking the flight!
Right before boarding my flight home, I watched a Spirit Airline flight to Las Vegas board. People tend to hate on Spirit, but I’ve never flown with them so I can say this as a fully unbiased bystander. That boarding process was like a damn cattle call!
There didn’t seem to be much order to the boarding process and people seemed to crowd around the narrow line. A quick Google search seems to imply that they are not blocking middle seats. All in all, it did not look like a good or pandemic-level safe experience.
If you take one thing away from this, it is to research the airline before you book the flight with them and if you are going to fly, then please, please, please only fly with companies blocking the middle seat for the time being.
Before deciding to travel, I would consider asking yourself these 8 questions first.
Stay tuned for a video showing what going through the airports was actually like!