binman

Just had an update from IAG carriers IB telling me to wear mask and how things will be when I fly.

the most ludicrous sentence being

our colleagues will ensure social distancing when boarding!!!😳

why bother?

if I am then to sit beside a total stranger touching them, on both sides if in a middle seat - and surrounded by up 17 total strangers within 2m.

airline marketing hyperbole is about to take off!🙄

subject2load

binman - you’re right, any silly talk of socially-distanced boarding is indeed both pointless (in terms of providing meaningful reassurance) and ludicrous (In terms of its true effectiveness).

There were a couple of short vox pops shown on a BBC News bulletin in the UK last night, conducted with passengers arriving at LHR. One guy had just come in from AMS, on a KLM flight, and he described the aircraft as being ‘absolutely rammed full’. Many recent anecdotal reports talk of BA flights being only lightly loaded - but that’s certainly not due to any policy on the part of BA, and it’s only a matter of time before some / many BA flights will be similarly full, with all the inherent risk that would mean for passengers using them.

The bottom line is that all airports and aircraft are areas where you will inevitably come into very close contact with other people (a number of whom could very well be Covid-infected) ; so it is ultimately a matter for everyone to make their own personal assessment of the risks to their health, weigh those risks, and make a decision as to whether to fly or not.

ISTFlyer

July 2020 is still not available.
Probably we would not have the final W21 schedule until August or September.

They are probably now adjusting July and potentially August.
You would need to wait a couple of weeks/months until you see the final W21 schedule.

Will100

What is the likelihood of the 744's being gone this winter?

Or does it make sense for them to continue being paid up and running on cheap fuel?

ISTFlyer

We still don't know how travel would look in the winter season.
If there is enough demand, 747's would return to the fleet.

IMO, until 787-10's and 777-9X's joint the BA fleet, BA would keep a decent number of 747's ( mostly super high J's )

Flying Yazata

I'm sitting on quite a lot of oneworld travel from November onwards, including some upgraded travel in First with the Queen of the Skies, so I dearly hope everything would still be possible to execute according to plan. I doubt they will be gone prematurely, since fuel prices haven't exactly hiked up. I personally haven't been worried about the health safety of air travel, but any outlook of prolonged requirements to be muzzled will seriously hurt any joy of travelling in C or F, not to mention "safer" (read: more miser friendly) catering on board and in the lounges.

To demonstrate my longing for sanity and normality, I swapped by signature quote today from the AA credit card quote from FT to one from the Iberia Plus e-mail sent out to all members.

ens100

A thought came up when thinking / hoping of being able to return to the skies to put things in a little context. With fewer staff (especially BA following the recent announcements) with us to make us feel safe, being paid less than half as much as they were prior to the shutdowns, yet expected to work much harder, it is not likely to be the same again for the near future. This is even once this virus / social distancing issues are overcome.

Interesting times coming up I think, as not only have BA let their customers down a little, they have massively let their staff down.

AlanA

mire down to the EU needs a trade deal with us As we have a net definite in goods and services. They have a lot more to lose

Obruni Boy

Even though many regulations have gone by the board regarding passenger rights I would expect that BA will continue to make cancellations at more than 14 days to avoid future litigation issues. Given the announced June 8th quarantine date when will BA announce the cancellation of all flights given that it is a bank holiday weekend, Sunday or perhaps Monday.
No point in making any flights at all except to Ireland given that there will be virtually no passengers.

GumshoeW12

Rubbish. Quarantine is only a real barrier for those who need to go out to work.

Right now millions of people are furloughed or working from home. Not to mention millions more retirees, unemployed and those exempt for whatever reason.

Sure, a large proportion of them can’t or won’t want to fly right now. But there’s still a large pool of people who could fly without quarantine being a huge issue. There’s also cargo to consider so there’s no way BA will just give up flying for the whole of June & July, just as it hasn’t in April & May.

CharlesWindsorClive1964

People are still managing to convince themselves this is true?!?! This is from an old man who regrettably believed this in 2016.

Anyway to be on topic - I suspect we'll see the bulk of June cancelled given the quarantine restrictions in the UK, and that other countries are enforcing on us as a result (e.g France). I can't see many people wanting to travel (if they even were before) when they're looking at 28 days isolating. I won't even discuss how ridiculous the policy is, as I'm sure we all have more questions than answers.

I have travel in June that's not cancelled, so I'll just sit until the last minute and hope that the cancellations come through. Having just looked at BA.com, both my routes are not on sale again for my dates (they were on sale 2 days ago, having been removed for almost 2 weeks prior).

I'm also curious as to when/if BA will formally announce any additional measures to help conform to social distancing etc. Will make July interesting none the less.

Quarantine means you can't leave for whatever reason. Yes, you can get your groceries online or ask someone to help, but even for people working at home/furloughed/retired it still makes life a lot more complicated on return.

You can't even walk the dog (assuming our quarantine is anything like Norway - where I'm familiar with the restrictions). It'll be a total pain the the rear to be quarantined, and I can't think of many reasons why someone would want to put themselves through that unless they have an extreme reason. I doubt many will be interested for a few days in Spain if that's the end result, but that's just my hypothesis.

nk15

At least they are trying, unlike BA.

flyslow

They specify it has to be a medical mask, not just any face covering

Flying Yazata

So when I'm flying BA next time in November, I assume people will be more comfortable, if I wear a shemagh properly also covering my face. Right... Well, I think this is starting to go overboard soon. As a reminder: the Imperial College report on effective preventive measures ranked facemasks as the least effective option. Among other things, moving to the countryside was more effective. I've kept saying that some KISS logic is needed - focus on the most effective measures and leave out any hyperbole. People will otherwise get tired and lose their interest/attention.

Palty

Hey people
not sure if this is the right form to ask (so i apologise in advance if it isn't)
but I've just got a quick question here
I need to be in New York next weekend and I will be back before the 8th june more like june 1st
will I be able to go?
Will I need to quarantine?
If I can go what are the things I need to know?
(I'm an English passport holder)
Thanks.