t5campbell

I am still flying due to work. My company makes Trauma Products for the Upper Extremity. The majority of our products can go without myself or a representative in the room except one for first time users. I have only flown twice since March 24th.

SteveHK

My mother-in-law has to move from her apartment to a care facility this weekend. We're flying to Chicago to help her with her things and get her settled. We've been quarantined just to be safe for 10 days now in preparation, but no real choice. She has to move and she's 80 and isn't going to be doing all of this alone.

Edit to add: honestly, I have no fear of catching anything by traveling. If anything, the grocery stores here are way more dangerous. At least planes are empty and airlines putting so much effort into cleaning and disinfecting. The large and busy grocery store near my just hands you a wetwipe as you walk in but otherwise business as usual.

SOBE ER DOC

Still flying but at an extremely reduced rate. My side hustle is being a doc and I have to fly to get to the hospital I work at once a month. I wear an N-95 from the moment I board the plane until I deplane. Have also gone from flying my "preferred" airlines (DL, UA) to flying whoever has the non-stop (less time in planes the better right now).

threeoh

I've read it many times. Essential activities and essential travel are permitted. They are enumerated in the order. Leaving the home for any other reason is prohibited.

You are correct that the definition of "essential" is broad (but not infinitely broad) and that enforcement is lax.

Literally no one said that.

Look, I have expressed no judgement about whether you should fly or not. I actually don't really care, and if I did have an opinion I would keep it to myself in the spirit of FT rules. I'm not even saying whether the stay at home orders are a good idea, are unnecessary, or should perhaps be even stricter. I'm just trying to describe the current state of affairs, since things are changing rapidly and each state is different, so those who want to follow the rules can do so, and those who don't want to can at least be aware that they're violating the rules.

Hopefully that's helpful to someone.

random.parts

Essential has been defined in very broad terms. I could justify travel to another state because the Trader Joes in my area is closed (for example) and I am getting groceries (essential activity) that only they sell. Or more personally, for my exercise I either go to the gym (closed) or I travel to new cities and walk around exploring it, finding street art and appreciating the architecture. I track all of my city/park walks via Strava and average around 10-12 miles a day. Walking is an essential activity, therefor my travel would be for an activity deemed essential. Whether anyone else thinks it is or not doesnt matter, its a legally allowed activity in most (all?) states.


I don’t currently have travel plans since I have already qualified for 1K this year w/ the lower PQP requirements - no need to chase 54 segments now. If this drags on into summer, I plan to find a new city or two for my essential walks.

FlyngSvyr

The purpose of my "marital law" comment was not directed @ you, but meant for the FT board @ large. Maybe it is a harsh term, but I was trying to illustrate the extreme that we are NOT at yet (and hopefully never will be).

I have found that MANY people in the general public and some on this board (not you) hear "Stay @ Home Order" and automatically assume that everyone is supposed to stay in their houses until this is over (other than local food shopping). They are not aware of the other permitted activities and travel that they are free to engage in while still protecting the public health. They never take the time to read the granular detail of the orders to understand how they work. I encourage everyone to read the different orders in detail for the state they live in as well as any they may have to travel to during this time. It helps them to make an informed decision and realize what "rights" they still have.

I am also hopeful that this is helpful to someone

Mint Cake

Not me, but my octogenarian father in law is repatriating himself to the UK at the start of May, after 30+ years in the US. He's ticketed PHX-EWR, EWR -MAN, but it looks like the EWR-MAN leg won't be running
To date United haven't come up with an alternative routing, but I'm interested to see what route they'll send him "home" and when they'll let him/me know.

fumje

Usually the sequence of events is (i) they cancel the flight, automatically rebook something else, and leave a schedule change notice on the reservation; (ii) if the computer got confused and failed to rebook, it will leave the reservation in limbo (possibly showing only PHX-EWR) until you call them or; (iii) they call you any time before T-24h to ask what you want to do.

If the EWR-MAN flight is not officially cancelled yet, nothing for you to do but wait.

threeoh

Sounds like we agree then: I encourage everyone to read the order for their state (or potential travel state) and understand what it says rather than making assumptions.

Apologies for taking this thread on a tangent. Now we can get back to a discussion of people who are still flying (I am not, though I am still going to my essential job by foot).

bhunt

You can definitely smell the bleach they are using.

dinoscool3

I'll be flying back to the states May 1, when my work permit expires. Just waiting on my company to purchase the flights (thankfully the only options are AC+UA). Will be interesting to what route I end up flying since I assume there will be lots of cancellations.

donjo

I'm also an ER doc and have commitments at multiple facilities that requires me to travel twice a week. It's become a pain since about 70% of my flights have been canceled. Forced to find alternate carriers for about half my itinerary. On a positive note, PZ space is widely available on many routes, so I booked a Singapore trip for September this evening.

Out of my Element

I clicked "LIKE" for the photos above, not because I like what they are showing, but because I appreciate the fact that they were posted so we can see what it looks like. Stay safe!

glbltvlr

Given the TSA reports showing less than 10% usual passenger volumes being screened, there must be a lot of empty planes up there...

MostlyUA

i haven't flown in nearly a month. I had planned to go to Singapore and do the 2-week quarantine, but apparently, the government makes you stay in your hotel room the entire time - no lounges or walking outside. Yesterday, I cancelled all my flights in April and May. I hope to be flying by July. Hopefully, United will still initiate the SFO-DUB route so I can go to Ireland without going through Heathrow or Newark. Singapore and Hong Kong are also on my schedule of places I have to go to.

I didn't think I would feel this way, but I miss traveling. I feel useless on Webex and Zoom.

Oh yeah, my business has been classified as "essential" and my job apparently is also "essential"