Do you think they will not be operating at that time? Has there been an announcement that ET will suspend flying the ADD-ORD route?

Any flight, especially a long haul, more than a few weeks out is merely a placeholder. There is so little in the way of flying at the moment that many routes just don�t make any sense at all, cargo or not. I have no inside knowledge (hint, no one does) but I would not be surprised at all if this flight/route/frequency is changed by May. The bigger picture is that I certainly would not want to be far from home with air travel infrastructure so massively impacted.

I just book them if I can get a full refund (along with any hotels at the other end) and have a decent travel insurance provider. If things get overly complicated and get cancelled, I just don;t worry about it.

Personally, I have observed that ET and QR are the most reliable carriers to/from southern Africa. And these seem to be the carriers that everyone goes to when BA, KL, etc stop taking passengers.

Hello OP, we also have a long planned trip to both SA and Namibia in early May. Our travel agent tells us that PCR's are to be expected in BOTH countries through May. This complication would cause us to need to fly to Windhoek or Swakapmund three days prior to our departure and get a test done, which is approx $800 USD per person for flight and test. Other countries will fly a nurse out to your camp to do the testing, which is expensive but not AS expensive as flying each pax to testing. Namibia considers the covid test swabs as "biohazard" and will not fly them, so they must be done on spot and then the 3 day wait.

Very curious what other information you might find - a rapid test was going to be our answer, as we can obtain rapid tests in the USA and carry them with us, to be done with virtual supervision and uploaded to an app for the re-entry to US. But we would be transiting through JNB, which requires a PCR to transit (per our agent). Anyone with more info please pitch in!

(and yes, we are aware of the SA variant and will likely ditch the SA part of the trip)

Getting a PCR test here in the US before entering Namibia is not going to be a problem. If it was 3 days before that was problematic but namibia changed the time frame last month.

The antigen test to return to the US can be either PCR or the rapid test. My TA is making arrangements to help their clients get tested on time for return flights: from the web site of Namibia Tours & Safaris

In-country Testing

For guests required to provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test on departure from Namibia by the airline or on arrival into the country they will be travelling to:

• Guests will be assisted by NTS to make the necessary arrangements and appointments in order to do so
• Itineraries will be planned accordingly to ensure adequate time is available for testing and to receive results prior to departure
• NTS will follow up, in as far as possible, on test results to ensure the client receives their results in advance of departure
• Pathcare is working in close conjunction with the tourism industry to offer testing services on pre-appointment.

We as NTS will endeavour to assist all our guests with regards to the above, however it is still the responsibility of each guest to ensure that you comply with the requirements of the airline you will be travelling with as well as to note the requirements stipulated by your country of residence for your return.
I already know where I can get the test in Windhoek to return home to the US on ET 834.

As to my optimism, my flights are award tickets so if they get dropped at the last minute and I can get my miles back and reschedule for a later date. The only issue would be with the payment for the safari which I will be making one month before the trip is scheduled. If I would have to cancel that due to ET cancelling flights, my payments should roll ahead to another date.

I don't know of any travel insurance that covers reimbursement for a safari that is cancelled by the client because an airline cancelled flights.