Airline travelers cope with uncertainty, new protocols

As the holday season begins, airline passengers are coping with a range of new restrictions and facing doubts about the saftey of air travel.

Bookings for airlines flights were expected to rise during the months of November and December — and hit numbers not seen since March — until a second wave of coronavirus cases dampened expectations that airline travel will return to normal levels anytime soon. Still, many tri-state residents are still eager to fly.

Passengers at the regional airport serving southern Connecticut say they are more than willing to fly during the holiday season, viewing airline travel as no more hazardous for their health than other activities, if they follow the applicable sanitary guideline.

Chelsea Plant took a passenger jet from her home in Florida for a visit with her brother in Newtown this week, flying in at the Westchester County Airport near Armonk, N.Y. on the border with Greenwich, on a blustery fall day.

“I had my mask on, so it seemed pretty safe,” she said.

Nearby, another passenger, Andrea Lexow, was waiting for her flight to Florida to be announced. Lexow said she had no qualms about flying. “I’ll wear a mask. ... There’s only so much you can do,” she said, and she wanted to live a life as close to normal as possible during the pandemic.

A family from White Plains heading to Florida brought wipes to clean off all the hand rests and upholstery in their rows during the flight.

Travelers coming through Westchester County Airport are required to take a COVID-19 test three days before departure. Upon arrival, they are required to quarantine for three days, then take another COVID-19 test. If the test comes back negative, they may remove themselves from quarantine. For those who do not take the COVID-19 tests, a 14-day quarantine is required upon arrival.

At the airport itself, new cleaning and sanitary procedures have been put in place, according to Airport Manager Peter Scherrer.

New air handlers and ventilation systems are being installed this month, Scherrer said, to improve airflow. The airport management had been waiting to find an aircirculation system that Scherrer said was the best product on the market, rather than rushing to find a quick fix. The airport also invested in new cleaning equipment, carpeting and furnishings, for an overall environment that is easier to clean regularly and efficiently. An infrared device was put on the handrails of the escalator that is presumed to neutralize microbes. The goal, Scherrer said, was a safe environment for a facility that accommodates hundreds of passengers, workers and even film crews every day.

“We want to make it safe for staff and the public,” Scherrer said. The facility has seen a handful of employees test positive for this year, including one this week, he said, but it appeared none of the cases were contracted in the workplace.

As to passenger safety, the airport manager said he believed it was safe to fly. “Follow the rules, do all the safety protocols, and if you’re sick, don’t fly. If you’re wearing a mask and following the rules, you’re safe.”

Airline volume at the regional airport adjoining Greenwich and serving numerous Connecticut residents has been low since the pandemic struck. Only Jet Blue and American are currently flying from Westchester — Delta and United may return in March of 2021, the airport manager said.

Before the pandemic, 268 planes took off from the flight facility every week, and it handled about 40 flights a day. In October of this year, there were 57 weekly departures. The holiday season has added some more volume, Scherrer noted. “We’re creeping up, but we’re not close to where we were before,” he said. The planes were carrying a substantial number of passengers, too. “Pretty good loads, better than we expected,” he said.

In April, only or two flights a day were scheduled at the airport, which dates to the ring of air defenses around New York City in World War II. Due to the drop-off in activity, the runways were closed for a month this spring to carry out longneeded maintenance and re-surfacing.

Airline travelers have been receiving some mixed messages from government, health experts and industry leaders.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent out an advisory this month calling on Americans to stay home for the holidays. “Travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. Staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19,” the advisory read. “Airports, bus stations, train stations, and rest stops are all places travelers can be exposed to the virus in the air and on surfaces. These are also places where it can be hard to social distance. In general, the longer you are around a person with COVID-19, the more likely you are to get infected....Most viruses and other germs do not spread easily on flights because of how air circulates and is filtered on airplanes. However, social distancing is difficult on crowded flights, and sitting within 6 feet of others, sometimes for hours, may increase your risk of getting COVID-19.”

Aviation industry leaders are calling on potential travelers to assess their own needs and concerns and do what they felt was right. “We're not encouraging people to travel. Do we want to see them travel? Yes, but only if it's safe for them,” said Nick Calio, CEO of Airlines for America, told CNN Business this week. “There's a variety of factors involved in that for each individual traveler.”