birdiedouble

Just saw news that WN will start using middle seats on 12/1.

NoStressHere

Link?
Did it say the current policy is expiring Nov 30 or did it say WN announced they were using middle starting 12/1?

gbdbld

I saw WN tweeted that they will fill in the middle seats after 11/30

hhoope01

Per Forget about that empty middle seat: Southwest Airlines to start filling planes in December it says:

"This practice of effectively keeping middle seats open bridged us from the early days of the pandemic, when we had little knowledge about the behavior of the virus, to now,'' the airline said in a statement Thursday. "Today, aligned with science-based findings from trusted medical and aviation organizations, we will resume selling all available seats for travel beginning December 1, 2020.'' quoted from Gary Kelly

LegalTender

WN says "the risk of breathing COVID-19 particles on an airplane is virtually non-existent."

Masks are still required by all passengers and airline workers.

NoStressHere

Saw this news - looks final.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/new...5IA?li=BBnbfcL

synergistic

I hope they open it up so that people can purchase an extra seat. I guess my other half could go for COS - no one sitting beside him is comfortable - but I'm happy to pay for the seat. I don't anticipate a lot of flights until I've had it or can get a vaccine, but any essential travel will be done on an airline I can buy an extra seat on.

mile ho

If you can unblock our middle seats then you can certainly bring back our DRINKS!

screeton

At a time when COVID numbers are climbing nationwide, this decision will help prospective passengers decide to simply stay home or drive. Flight frequency had been slashed, obviously because of reduced demand, but those of us left who still need to travel are still concerned about potential transmission when forced to sit close to a stranger who may or may not have done all the recommended prevention measures in the weeks before they boarded the plane. We had a trip already reserved in December, and another in January, both hanging by a thread because of our concerns even with middle seat open. This decision will almost certainly mean cancellation of our reservations in favor of simply driving. And before someone starts, yes, I understand all the revenue management/inventory control implications of flying with a plane 1/3 empty.

Jane42

https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...e-contact-cdc/

"The CDC had previously defined a “close contact” as someone who spent at least 15 consecutive minutes within six feet of a confirmed coronavirus case. The updated guidance, which health departments rely on to conduct contact tracing, now defines a close contact as someone who was within six feet of an infected individual for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period, according to a CDC statement Wednesday."

Not sure why they believe it is ok now...

expert7700

This is bad news. In the article linked above the prison guard and prisoner only had one minute contacts (both were masked) but they added up to 17min.

If your seatmate is coughing or becomes ill after pushback, there may not anywhere to move to. Dreadful. Or your seatmate may be the type who makes 7 pretzels or cup of water last the whole flight to keep their mask removed.

Folks will also have more prolonged and cumulative contact as Southwest gates are more crowded, bins are more crowded, etc.

The airline/IATA sponsored reports showing how rosy the situation, one even straped sensors into seats) seems to neglect that masks are removed to "eat" or "drink", and don't seem to account for passengers standing in a crowded aisle.

​​IIRC, One confirmed report (pre masking) on a 5hr flight confirmed that a single passenger infeced all but one person in a full business class (lots of spacing) cabin. Situation is indisputably safer now with masking.. But since masks aren't glued to faces, flying has a risk.

nsx

Exactly. We don't know if the other person has been hugging friends all week before the flight. I for one would avoid any connection through LAS. A seatmate who prefers not to take chances is a safer seatmate.

I have friends and even family members who don't consistently maintain social distance from their friends. I have to guess that 1/3 or more of the people on each flight have not been as careful as I. It might be more than half: A person's willingness to take a flight these days is correlated with his or her attitude toward risk.

If I need to fly I will seek out empty flights, ideally less than 30 people in 143 seats. No more peak hour flights for me until I have immunity.

flsusi

is there a breakdown of what airlines still keep the middle seat open, and until when?

steved5480

Alaska

Delta (previously announced later in Jan 2021)

pfreet

Are we really debating whether middle to aisle transmission is significantly worse than window to aisle? I guess the option to stay home still exists.