I sat in my car in quiet reflection, hopeful that the nightmare of the last 9 days was over; however, there wasn’t the slightest hint of morning.
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The first week of April, I had a 3 day reserve stint. The evening of the 1st day, I received a call from crew scheduling. “Hi, you have been assigned a 2-day departing tomorrow at 0800 Atlanta to Milwaukee. From there, you’ll fly back to Atlanta and then lastly to Denver.” I stared at my phone in shock. With flight cancellations rampant, I was certain I wasn’t going to get called and so thankful I had bid reserve. The world seemed to be crumbling around me and they needed me to fly?! Deep breaths. Deep breaths. What if I catch it? What if I give it to Nicole or my daughter?!
There wasn’t much time to pack and head to the airport. I rushed into the house to shower and get ready. Rumors were spreading on company social media that restaurants around the system were closing. Nothing to eat anywhere. While I was showering, Nicole packed some leftovers and filled my soft-sided cooler that I often take on the road. Have I ever said how much I appreciate her support?
Both of us were completely insulated from the news we read each day. With a newborn at home, we already weren’t going out much and with the city in lockdown, we couldn’t go if we wanted. Aside from the grocery store and the park, we really hadn’t left our house. Now I was venturing out into the world and I was scared. It was quiet in the house in those last few minutes before I packed my car. Thirty minutes after receiving the phone call and one last hug and kiss, I was on the road.
It was weird, that trip. We would later find out what our bosses in the headquarters already knew. During that trip, of the 2.6 Million daily passengers that normally fly on all airlines across all the United States, the total count had dropped to less than 40,000. A stunning 98.5% drop.
My airline, being primarily hub-and-spoke, had the luxury of canceling the vast majority of its flights and consolidating what remained of our passengers. Southwest, being primarily point-to-point, did not. I rode them from Minneapolis to St Louis to get home after my previous trip. I did the same at the end of the this trip. Both times, I was one of 3 passengers on the airplane. It was eerie. On my ride to the parking lot after the trip, a Southwest gate agent told me yesterday she sent one passenger and one bag from St Louis to Ft Lauderdale. Today, there were two.
Following that trip, I wouldn’t touch an airplane again until the end of July. It would officially be the longest stretch since I first started this blog in 2011 without flying; just barely beating out the birth of Hazel and going through initial training at both airlines, all around 3 months.
For the first time in US History, airlines were granted a waiver for landing currency for pilots. Normally we have 90 days to get 3 takeoffs and landings, but due to the unprecedented drop in traffic, pilots just weren't flying. The FAA granted a one-time waiver that allowed us to extend the time limit an additional 30 days. In the previous 119 days, I had one landing when the airline removed me from the schedule and scheduled me for a refresher simulator. Exactly 15 weeks after landing from my last trip, I headed back into the big bad world.
Boy was I nervous. Nicole had started working again in April but from home. Aside from an occasional day trip to see her sister and our weekly routine of supporting local restaurants by ordering takeout, there really wasn’t wasn’t much interacting with the outside world for us. So when I packed my flight kit and suitcase for the one day training event, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. Maybe I’ll throw in some extra hand-sanitizer, I thought to myself. We had purchased a huge stash before Hazel was born not knowing how much poop we would get on our hands. Turns out, not gallons worth. With stores being out of stock for months on end, my over-preparedness really came in handy.
What was most surprising about my first flight back was how unbelievably comfortable I felt with the entire experience. When I had left the house in April, few people were wearing masks (aside from the people dressed in Hazmat suits). Flights were completely empty anyways but aside from that, there really had been no change. The industry was just reacting. No one knew what to do or how to prevent it. Everything, in those early days, could get you sick or so we thought. I even remember leaving Amazon packages in the front room untouched in the first few months because I read that the virus lives on cardboard from up to a week.
When I arrived at the main terminal, there was signage EVERYWHERE. Plexiglas stood in front of ticket agents checking bags at the counter. Large stickers had been placed on the floor in front of kiosks to indicate where you should stand to wait your turn. Over the PA system, a new announcement was being broadcast reminding people to wash their hands and stay 6 feet apart even while wearing a mask, if possible. When I walked past security on my way to the crew line, small dots were placed on the floor there as well. And even more shocking, people were actually standing on them! In some major airports, security lines have even become a plexiglass maze.
After passing through security, I stopped in the restroom to wash my hands. To my surprise, I actually had to stand in line at the sink, something I’d literally never had to do in a men’s room. Hands clean, I made my way to the gate as the gate agent finished her pre-boarding announcement from behind her Plexiglas fortress. Instead of boarding by groups, we were now going to board from the rear of the airplane forward so you would have to walk by as few people as possible on the way to your seat. Small dots again were placed to indicate appropriate distance to wait to have your ticket scanned.
After patiently waiting my turn to board the airplane, I found my seat and sat down. What I found there was stunning. In the previous years, aircraft cleaning was a brief process during the day. Vacuum, pick up trash, cross seatbelts and leave. It wasn't difficult to tell if there had been an especially messy toddler sitting in your seat on the previous flight.
What I had heard during the virtual company town halls during my 4 month hiatus about the new cleaning procedures was confirmed when I sat down. The seat back pockets were empty aside from the mandatory safety briefing card. The floor was completely clean. The tray tables were wiped down. Between flights, electrostatic “fogging” had taken place which coated every surface with disinfectants capable of killing viruses. The airplane looked almost new and had a distinct clean smell.
The company has taken a very strong stance to protect its passengers and employees. It placed booking caps on flights at no more than 60% (now raised to just middle seats empty). Flight attendants and all employees are required to wear masks as well as all passengers with very few exceptions. If a passenger wants to claim an exception, they must talk to a Physician specializing in Aeromedical Medicine at a contracted facility at the University of Pittsburgh. Anyone who refuses to wear one once boarding is unapologetically removed from the aircraft and, depending on the severity of the incident, placed on a no-fly list until the mask requirement is discontinued.
When we arrived at our destination, people orderly packed up their stuff and walked off the airplane. Most people stayed seated until it was their turn to walk off ensuring the aisle wasn't full of people trying to shove their way to the front. There are always stories of people having public outbursts, but that wasn't at all what I experienced.
Following the training, I went back to flying a normal monthly schedule. My 4 month paid vacation had ended as the airline shrank to meet this new demand level. Even in the following months, the airport calm generally persisted. People wait patiently in the gate area with their masks on. Many stop at the hand sanitizer kiosks stationed unsparingly throughout the airport. Airport restaurants started reopening as passengers started returning. In July, 500-700k per day had returned to US airports. As of this writing, we've had a handful of days over 1 million passengers but the daily passenger count has generally stabilized between 700-800k per day. For those who are good at math but don't like to actually do any, that's between 30-40% of normal.
And of the millions upon millions of people we've transported since requiring masks, we've only had to give the boot to around 500. It truly has become, a new normal.
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