cmd320

Agree this would be an issue if it was only middle seats open, however at this point flights are averaging about a dozen people, maybe two dozen if it's extremely busy.

Now, if traffic picks up again then I could see the need to properly block the middles. A simple fix would be installing a little permanent table like AA used to do in rows 16 and 17 on their 738s back when they were staffed with only 3 FAs to keep the seats at 150.

BRITINJAPAN4

And a one seat distancing will help....how ?

AggieTexan

I think scrapping the ridiculous high density domestic 777s would be an excellent place to start!

twyatt

I couldn't agree with you more......... maybe the cure is worse than the illness.
After 9/11/01, there was an intense focus on security. I expect that there will be an intense focus on health in the future - the good ol' yellow fever health card comes to mind - especially for international flights. Probably disinfecting cabins during turn-arounds will become standard operating procedure.....

Morgacj2004

It will really be up to the consumer as how bad they want to fly and what they are willing to pay. If consumers as a whole refuse middle seat assignments or stop booking basic economy than airlines will be forced to make changes. Would not count on our government doing this for us.

CEB

Could not agree more! The whole thing with plunging the world economy into oblivion over this is ridiculous. Is SARS-COV-2 dangerous? Absolutely, especially to people in my age group (Anyone over 60 or so.). But if people stop to look at the DATA and ignore the EMOTION, you will see that since January, here in the USA, 5 times as many people have died of common influenza (the flu) than have died of SARS-COV-2. Yet we have nearly tripled the unemployment rate and likely bankrupt >25% of all SMEs in the country in response. CARES will do little to reduce this toll as all it does is kick the bill down the road as we will all suffer through increased taxes that will continue to depress the economy and increase the numbers of the poor.

All this has come through a perfect storm of an ignorant public panic, incompetent government response, and irresponsible media sensationalism.

By way of example, an educated public would have reduced travel and restaurants would have reduced seating capacity to maintain safe spacing without closing. A sensible government would have focused on education and publicity programs to encourage appropriately safe behaviors, and instituted a comprehensive testing program immediately in order to isolate and contain spread of the virus rather than a de facto declaration of military law. And a responsible media would have published factual data and rational analysis rather than sensational headlines that pour gasoline on the public panic that rested beneath the surface early on.

The New York Times is a serious culprit here where they published a manipulated and patently false report, since promulgated across the world, that the common flu only kills less than 0.1 % of those who get it. They took the LOWEST reported death rate in the US from the flu (12,000 in the 2011-2012 flu season) and divided it by the HIGHEST reported flu infection rate (45,000,000 in the 2017-2018 flu season). Reality is that the death rate from the common flu hovers between 0.9 and 1.2 % on a year to year basis (according to CDC data) which is approximately the same as SARS-COV-2. SARS-COV-2 is certainly more severe a threat to the aged, particularly those over the age of 70 or 80. In Italy, the death rate for those over 80 is greater than 7.5% while for those under the age of 60 it is less than 0.9%, of which most have compromised immune systems. But one does not hear this in the news, only that the death rate in Italy (where the average age is a full ten years greater than the USA) is over 7%. Well, that is because most of the people who have contracts SARS-COV-2 in Italy have been the aged because there are so many more of them!

Did we need to take serious measures to control the spread of SARS-COV-2? Most certainly, and many of the actions and behaviors we see today are indeed appropriate. However, taking these actions on a voluntary basis through education and publicity would have had far less impact on the economy and thus on the vast majority of the population.

Those who have taken these draconian military law measures will certainly say, 'look how many lives we saved.' But the reality is that they will have saved exactly zero lives. In the end, most of the people who would get SARS-COV-2 will still get it at some point in the next year or so. And those who will die form it will do so. The losses will be tragic for each and every one of us who is impacted either directly or indirectly, and we will mourn and grow and move forward.

As MiamiAirport said, the misery index from these government actions (combined with public ignorance and media irresponsibility) already far outweighs the impact of SARS-COV-2. It is time to move on and try to rebuild the lives of the millions who have been needlessly impoverished.

avw

Yes, I will sit close to others when this is all over. I never sit in a middle seat on a 10 hour flight. For that, I fly Business or not at all.

Another question...Are you willing to pay 5x the former price (or more) to get your desired space?

Azamaraal

The answer to this question is still undecided. We just don't know how this will pan out in the year ahead. With some secondary or repeat infections in Korea it looks like there might be no immunity even after having been infected. This would definitely be a game changer if true.

Before Covid-19 we had the 737 Max. Irrespective of the outcome of certification, I was and am unprepared to fly the Max mainly because of the terrible seat density and washroom situation of most configurations.

The result of the pandemic will be that many people will be willing to pay higher prices and travel less rather than to expose themselves to terribly cramped conditions and the resulting exposure to illness (not only covid). I still remember AA when they came out with that wonderful seat pitch advertising and configurations. I flew AA exclusively because of that. Unfortunately that fell by the wayside when LCC and ULCC became more the norm and AA decided to compete with the worst instead of being the best.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

Possibly there's going to be some sort of social distancing for a time being. Whether this is needed or hype I'll let others debate. Airlines may need to limit load factors possibly being forced to block middle seats, at least for some interim period. In the US since most airlines are going to take the bailout they will be at the mercy of the government and what it requires.

I'm sure the airlines want to cut capacity because they've already seem convinced demand will not rebound to pre 2020 levels, raise fares and still get a butt in every seat. How is the question. Business flyers have gotten addicted to frequency in the US while airlines have got addicted to filling all those empty coach seats with BE type flyers. If leisure travel doesn't come back due to an unemployment rate over 20% there's going to be lots of empty seats chasing too few paxs. Parking lots of new a/c with debt and lease payments isn't going to work. We could see another round of Chapter 11 to cancel a/c leases, return a/c to lenders, void union contracts and walk away from lots of vendor invoices due.

montone59

Ignoring the highly subjective but understandable venting here, I can report that when I recently reserved a flight to Rome for late August on Alitalia, the seating chart showed a helical or zig zag pattern of selectable seats in economy, which resulted in a loss of about 50% of usual seating options. I know the virus doesn’t respect such boundaries more than no smoking sections prevent inundation with smoke, but I thought it was a welcome gesture nonetheless.

Allanf

Wouldn’t it be great if congress mandated humane seat width and seat pitch as a requirement for government subsidization. Maybe the silver lining will be reduced seat density offset by increase in ticket prices. Not sure about the math but 1/3 more seat room offset by 1/3 higher ticket prices, or whatever the ratio should be, seems reasonable to me.

AllanJ

If they could invent a face mask allowing social distancing down to two feet then we could kill many birds with one stone.

Then we eliminate middle seat bookings except for family members filling a row. Eliminate recline (to keep pax' heads spaced evenly!).
1. Substantial passenger loads can be sustained.
2. No more arm rest fights.
3. No more passenger of size conflicts.
4. No more need to gate check carryons.
5. Unfortunately it would be necessary to resort to astronaut style food, like instant breakfast and soda straws.

cmd320

In what world do seats recline enough for there to be any perceivable benefit to this?

dmnsctt

They just have to give everyone face masks and a few sets of disposable gloves. Keep them on at all times except for eating. Maybe stagger the meal service on longer flights over a longer period of time so everyone's mask isn't off at the same time. Have lots of wet wipes/clorox wipes available.

For mass transit it will be about reducing risk as much as possible without bankrupting the provider (in this case, airlines). You take your chances if you fly. It's going to be this way anyway for the next 18 months or so after shelter in place restrictions are gradually lifted. Those most at risk will have to be more cautious. The rest of us will have to do what we can while at the same time allowing some sort of normality to return.

This disease is highly infectious and contagious, so the shelter in place precautions at the moment are saving lives. If it was left to run rampant we'd have bodies piled up more than we have already. The comment a few up about the death rate from flu being the same just isn't an accurate statement at this time. If we let it go, a lot more people would have died vs the common seasonal flu.

AllanJ

One advantage of mandating things like blocking the middle seats is that it would level the playing field for social distancing for all airines. Companies would no longer be able to expect that their employees on business trips choose a less expensive flight with less social distancing compared with a more expensive flight with more social distancing.