My Experience With American Airlines During Coronavirus

So traveling during this pandemic has been a discussion since the beginning. Flight prices dropped and a lot of people were looking ahead to Summertime to buy some flights thinking the pandemic would be over. Well, that's not my case. Back in October 2019 my best friends from Raleigh moved cross country to Portland, when they moved we thought a good time for me to come visit for the first time would be for Portland Pride, which took place in the beginning of June. Well, fast forward to March and next thing you know everything is closed down. Not too much longer after that Portland cancelled their Pride celebrations due to no mass gatherings allowed. And if you've ever been to a pride event, especially in a big city, there could be 50,000 people at a given time in the city out and about. Next thing you know it's April and I decided to keep my flight because I thought at least by June things should be looking better. Well...I was wrong, but I had already invested money into the trip & had the time off approved so after much thought, I decided to keep my flight to the west coast.

I flew American Airlines, I had a 2.5 hour flight to Dallas and then a 4 hour flight into Portland. I was nervous about flying after seeing a couple of videos from NYC to CLT and how packed the flight was. Well...here was my experience.

The CLT airport? Empty. My flight was a Thursday afternoon and from the time I walked in to the time I got to my gate...less than 10 minutes. The majority of people wore a mask, even though it's not mandatory in the airport. All restaurants/bars were closed. Some retail shops were open and the fast food / grab-and-go style food was open. Safety wise I felt completely safe and did not get close to anybody in the airport it self. Dallas airport I was actually a little nervous for but it was the absolute same. The majority of people were wearing a mask and restaurant style food was closed while fast food was open with lines adhering to the social distancing guidelines. Portland airport was COMPLETELY empty. Both when I got there & when I left I was completely shocked with how little people were there. I'm pretty sure I only saw the people from my flight.

The flight itself? Full. Here's where it gets tricky. Yes, the flight was full. I sat in the middle seat for all my flights, so I had someone to my left and someone to my right. BUT...American Airlines is now requiring you to wear a mask at all times from the moment you board the plane. They also suspended all services, so when you get on the plane you get a little goody bag and that's it, that's the only contact you have with the flight attendants other than when they come around at the end for trash. Wearing a mask for that amount of time was annoying but it did make me feel more safe. I had zero contact with anybody, even though I had 2 people next to me at all times.

I ALSO NOTICED...people are a lot more conscious of their bodily noises now. Thank. The. Lord. I don't know how many times I've been somewhere and people are coughing or sneezing or just having a runny nose without doing anything about it. I am happy to report I heard not one cough, not one sneeze, not one bodily noise out of another human!

So overall...I had a good experience. Some people might not be okay with the above, and that's okay, but overall I never felt unsafe and I have another flight that was booked in 2019 to Denver coming up at the end of August & I feel 100% confident about it.