Has anyone been on a plane recently?

[Moutaineer]

How was it? Did you feel safe?

[Sunny Santa Cruz]

I flew from Ca to NC and back, Delta. I did feel totally safe. Plane was not full. Went first class so I could be as distanced as possible. They do the whole disinfecting thing before boarding give wipes to slather down your area. Kept 2 masks on cause I was really worried. Brought my own snackes. The airports were pretty empty as well.

[StraightForward]

I have not.

My instructor has been flying pretty much weekly from CA to teach in ID, UT and WY since April. She mentioned people not social distancing to some extent lining up to get on the plane, but she is pretty serious about covid avoidance and continues to fly (her mom lives here and we've have conversations about which stores are better/worse to make a quick trip, etc.).

However, I was just reading about the newer covid strain that seems to give carriers a higher virus load (so emitting more virus), and take lower virus exposure for infection, so with that starting to circulate, it seems that the safety of flying may be decreasing.

[Chisamba]

my hubby flew weekly through the pandemic and felt safe until just before Thanksgiving. at first flights were half and mostly masks were worn

he has stopped traveling since airlines are combining flights and filling them more. people are not wearing their masks.

[Moutaineer]

SF, I know your instructor

[PaulaO]

Brought my own snakes. The airports were pretty empty as well.

MF snakes on this MF plane! I know you meant snacks. I hope you meant snacks.

[StraightForward]

SF, I know your instructor

I am not surprised, it is a small dressage world out here in the mountains.

[Tanga]

I have not flown and will not until this goes away. I am VERY much worried about the new strain because it is so much more transmissible. I am not worried I will die. I am worried I could pass it on to someone who will, or I will get it and have a lifetime of side effects as so many have.

I have little exposure to people. At the food bank we are around a lot of people, but it's outside, distanced, and very careful. When the new strain came out, N 95's became mandatory. (We could wear surgical or cloth before.) That's a good thing. I'm going to a show next weekend and a friend is going to video. I'm thinking of asking her to drive herself because I'm worried about being in the truck with her with a mask for the short drive because her husband barely wears a mask at the barn and takes it off to get close to people to talk. I don't want to take the chance.

[Koolkat]

Air quality on planes is quite good. The airflow is from the upper sides and top (the little air vent above your head) to the floor and along the floor to the exhaust. Airflow is ~3 feet/second. The air is "diluted" (~60%) with outside air with each cycle/circulation and the "recycled" (~40%) filtered through HEPA filters. The air inside the cabin turns over every ~3 minutes. A caveat is the system works best when the plane is in the air and this is on newer/large aircraft. At least some airlines are not compromising on masks. Alaska is the most stringent and our local carrier, so my POV may be somewhat biased. They have just now reopened middle section seating. The number of cases of Covid-19 contracted while flying is a miniscule % of total passengers flying. The website of whatever airline you use should have all the info for their planes. I would assume that the airport building, itself, is much more risky. All that said, I haven't been on a plane yet.....

[Chancellor]

I flew back and forth to St Maarten in December. I felt pretty safe. Like Koolkat said, the airflow is pretty good. Everyone had to wear masks but the getting on board the plane, there wasn't a ton of social distancing.

[Anne]

I flew internationally recently. The flights were half to 3/4 full, and the carrier required masks to be worn throughout. I felt that the airports were the more dangerous places to pick up the virus. To mitigate risk, I didn't buy any food, and found seating as far from others as possible. I also carried a little bottle of hand-sanitiser (small enough to get through security with no problem), and used that to clean my hands before meals on the plane, and in the airports periodically. Also tried not to touch handrails, seats etc. Boarding, disembarking and security were bad for not physical distancing, but everyone was wearing masks so that was a good thing. I had covid tests pre-departure and after arrival, and now 2+ weeks later I'm confident I didn't pick up the virus via the travel....