Seat blocking for Covid / Coronavirus (consolidated thread)
#1
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Seat blocking for Covid / Coronavirus (consolidated thread)
Relaxed seating policies — link
In response to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) social distancing guidelines, American will temporarily relax seating policies for customers on most flights and reduce onboard food and beverage service levels.To encourage social distancing, gate agents and flight attendants will be able to proactively reassign seats to create more space between customers beginning March 24. Once on board — provided there aren’t any aircraft weight or balance restrictions — customers can move to another seat within their ticketed cabin subject to availability. American will also block 50% of all middle seats and all seats adjacent to Flight Attendant jump seats on every flight.
#3
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: FL400
Programs: AA 5MM EXP, UA 2MM 1K, HH LT DIA, MR Plat, NRAC EEV, AMEX Plat
Posts: 682
#5
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Roswell, GA
Programs: AA EXP 2.8m,Lifetime PLT, Hilton Diamond, IHG PlLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 3,191
BA still tries to block the seat next to you if flying coach (as a OWE)..
#7
Join Date: Aug 2003
Programs: Bonvoy Amb; AA EXP
Posts: 1,136
Yes, I believe they referred to it as a 'courtesy block.' Back when I was a CK, I used to request this all the time. Naturally, loads 10 years ago are not what they were in 2019, where nearly every seat was taken. I've had luck, very occasionally, in asking the gate agent to keep a seat open, if possible, with mixed results.
#8
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Travel Safety/Security & Texas, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: AUS / GRK
Programs: AA, HHonors, Hertz
Posts: 13,464
Shortly after the merger, I remember flying on a few AA flights that had the middle seats blocked for elites. There was a tray covering the seat, so it would have been very difficult to seat a passenger there (you would have needed tools to take the tray out). This was in Oct 2014.
#9
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: AA, UA, Marriott
Posts: 1,043
Shortly after the merger, I remember flying on a few AA flights that had the middle seats blocked for elites. There was a tray covering the seat, so it would have been very difficult to seat a passenger there (you would have needed tools to take the tray out). This was in Oct 2014.
#10
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,297
heck you didn't even need to be Exec Plat. Before that tier was even created, you could get a middle seat blocked next to you even as a lowly gold
#11
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Programs: My opinions are not those of AA or any affiliates of AMR Corp.
Posts: 2,095
Please be patient during this difficult time
Relaxed seating policies — link
In response to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) social distancing guidelines, American will temporarily relax seating policies for customers on most flights and reduce onboard food and beverage service levels.To encourage social distancing, gate agents and flight attendants will be able to proactively reassign seats to create more space between customers beginning March 24. Once on board — provided there aren’t any aircraft weight or balance restrictions — customers can move to another seat within their ticketed cabin subject to availability. American will also block 50% of all middle seats and all seats adjacent to Flight Attendant jump seats on every flight.
If you do want to change a seat, please ask the agent BEFORE boarding (should always be an option even before these times) if there is someone seated next/near you. With the much lower load factors on many flights, social distancing can affect weight and balance calculations for some aircraft.
Asking the Gate agent to change your seat before boarding, allows the computer system to ensure the aircraft maintains proper weight and balance during taxi, takeoff, and landing.
Last edited by sluggoaafa; Mar 25, 2020 at 9:55 pm Reason: had to add a smiley...lol
#13
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: West Palm Beach
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 789
Caveat - I don't think anyways save for critical employees (healthcare, etc.) and funerals should be flying. Also caveat that I'm glad I'm not running an airline right now.
WIth that said, AA has eliminated any food or beverage service on flights under 2200 miles as part of this. Delta has adjusted their food service to be pre-packaged snacks and meals, and bottled water. Two different ways to adapt to the changes and the CDC guidelines with two very different customer experiences.
WIth that said, AA has eliminated any food or beverage service on flights under 2200 miles as part of this. Delta has adjusted their food service to be pre-packaged snacks and meals, and bottled water. Two different ways to adapt to the changes and the CDC guidelines with two very different customer experiences.
#14
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
Caveat - I don't think anyways save for critical employees (healthcare, etc.) and funerals should be flying. Also caveat that I'm glad I'm not running an airline right now.
WIth that said, AA has eliminated any food or beverage service on flights under 2200 miles as part of this. Delta has adjusted their food service to be pre-packaged snacks and meals, and bottled water. Two different ways to adapt to the changes and the CDC guidelines with two very different customer experiences.
WIth that said, AA has eliminated any food or beverage service on flights under 2200 miles as part of this. Delta has adjusted their food service to be pre-packaged snacks and meals, and bottled water. Two different ways to adapt to the changes and the CDC guidelines with two very different customer experiences.
#15
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: SAN
Programs: AA CK, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 839
I heard last night that domestic air travel was down 89% last week over the same week last year. I’m surprised it isn’t worse. In any event, if you’re still traveling, social distancing onboard is probably easy to carry off.