Traveling during a pandemic
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on most aspects of our daily lives, and travel is certainly no exception. Since the beginning of the pandemic, airlines have been struggling with the precautionary measures being implemented in airports and on flights. Now with the holiday season fast approaching, will people be shifting their plans? Will they still make the trip to see family? Will people still have big gatherings in their homes? While it is possible to travel while exercising proper precautions, experts from the CDC urge Americans to stay local for this holiday season.
Earlier this year, I talked to two people about their experience traveling when the world first went into quarantine. The first person I talked to was my mom, Anne Mooney. She traveled to the Midwest during the University of Utah spring break, when people were starting to realize that the COVID-19 pandemic would have a global effect. She had planned the trip months in advance, and wasn’t completely aware of the risks until she had already flown to her destination. While there, she became increasingly aware of the unfolding situation and was hesitant to get back onto a plane to fly home.
”It was about two or three days in when I started hearing about how dangerous this pandemic was, and it started making me really nervous.”
Anne’s sister Julie is a flight attendant for Delta Airlines who has worked through the pandemic and has noticed substantial improvement in Delta’s response since March. After speaking to her sister, Anne told me about some of the precautions Delta has been taking.
“Masks are now required, seating is limited so not as many people are on a plane at once, which also allows for more distancing between passengers. I also know they have very good ventilation systems on airplanes.” While precautions have been put in place, there is still risk with flying as it is a public space. “But still, there's a lot of people in a confined area, and we all know it's a very contagious virus.”
While these airlines have been taking precautions, most have thrown those precautions out the window for this holiday season. The holidays are one of the busiest times of the year, and airlines want to be able to provide sufficient flights for travelers while also making enough money to keep their workers employed. For most commercial airlines, this means filling every seat in the plane. Currently, Delta airlines is the only airline blocking middle seat sales.
We have, in fact, already seen a spike in COVID-19 cases as people begin to travel to their holiday destinations with nationwide daily case numbers approaching 200,000. As Thanksgiving gets closer, and we embark on the Christmas season, those numbers are expected to continue rising.
The second person I talked to was Elise Runnels, a classmate who had been participating in an exchange program in Chile when the world first started hearing about COVID -19. She had been in Chile since early August and planned to stay until June, but had to leave early due to the threat of the growing pandemic. On her flight home, she didn’t see anyone wearing masks and people were seated three to a row. In the moment, the flight felt relatively safe, but looking back she sees that airlines should have done more to help prevent the spread of the virus earlier on.
“I think the airlines could be a little bit more cautious because when I traveled there were still three people in a seat and I was still sitting directly next to somebody. Though I'm sure they're more cautious now.“
In addition to asking about travel via plane, I asked Anne and Elise if they had taken any road trips during the pandemic. Anne took a roadtrip to Butte, Montana with her family in early April and again in late June. She felt that this trip was safer than her previous trip to the midwest as she could split driving responsibilities with three other people and could make less stops. She felt that driving was far less stressful than flying.
“I think we travel differently, and I do think a car is a safer alternative.” Elise also took a road trip with her family in July when they drove to Seattle, Washington. The whole family was in consensus that the drive did not feel safe because there was a tendency for people in smaller, more rural towns to not wear masks. In addition to this lack of masks, these small towns were not at all enforcing distancing protocols.
Overall, both Anne and Elise agree that driving is definitely a safer alternative during the pandemic especially if you’re traveling with a group or if the destination is relatively close.
