Sincere question about safety of airline travel and COVID-19

[steve2470]

Yes, I know the topic is not strictly a " Florida " one (but then again we allow FloridaMan jokes). I am confident this topic applies to many of our Florida members, and it will get more visibility here rather than be buried quickly in GD.

I know the airlines are saying, in effect, that it is safe to travel. They cite their cleaning and HEPA filters, etc. I'm not sure of everything they are doing, so we can discuss that.

Like many of you, I am in a "higher risk group". I am 62, but thankfully I have no underlying conditions.

How safe is it, really, to travel now, by airplane ? I am thinking of going to the UK in 2022, and hopefully by then this won't even be a thought in my mind.

Thanks for your participation and thoughts

Steve
Florida group host

[carpetbagger]

1. Thoughts.

The rate of getting covid on a plane has been low, maybe 1/3000 or so pre vax, probably about the same as eating out in a normally occupied restaurant with another couple. So with vaccines, the risk of symptomatic infection is probably lower than the injury risk of a long car ride. I've encouraged my parents (81yo) to travel by plane. I think it's dicy, though, to make plans for 2022. A new variant could throw everything off.

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. I fly regularly and did so all through 2020

My company is short handed in various places around the country (I’m sitting at a dock at a Postal Distribution Center in Billings, MT as I type this) so in the past 18 months I have flown from Jacksonville through or to California ( I was in Bakersfield when the airlines started mandating masks and flew home wearing one for the first time), several cities in Texas, Denver, Chicago, Seattle, Kansas City, Butte, Phoenix, Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Dulles, Newark, Atlanta, Salt Lake City and a few others I am probably forgetting.

It is true that modern airliners have a highly efficient air handling system and in all those flights I have yet to come across anyone that made a stink out of not wearing a mask.

And FWIW, I had my second Pfizer shot today, but being vaccinated didn’t apply to all but one of the flights I have taken.

I’m also a COPD patient, so I am keenly aware of the risks I was subjecting myself to, but I trust the science and I felt the risk was very small, as long as the crowds I was in (ie., an airplane cabin) were all wearing masks.

In short, I think it is safe, and as time moves on, it will get safer. I myself am looking forward to a trip to Europe, probably in 2022 or perhaps ‘23.

Consider your own health issues of course, but don’t let fear dissuade you from travel.

[Sancho]

3. I believe that European travel will require vaccination soon, and they require testing now.

I realize it will differ by country and airline. Everyone that I know who has been to Europe lately has been tested, and a few had a quarantine on arrival. Just this week there was an announcement about proof of vaccination.

I suspect the airlines want the business, and they are serious about preventing infections. Otherwise they will be shut down.

[lapfog_1]

4. I'm in a high risk group

64 with diabetes, heart condition.

I've had Covid-19... and I've been vaccinated.

I am planning two trips this summer, one to Costa Rica and one to Europe.

I will be taking a PCR test 48 hours before each flight and before returning home.

I think humanity's response to this virus has been wholly inadequate... and that the pandemic will turn into endemic... with new vaccines offered every 6 months to a year to fight new variants. that we will never vaccinate 7 billion people fast enough to eradicate the virus before it mutates and that a new version emerges that is current vaccine resistant. SARS-Cov-2 will be like the flu, only much deadlier.

That said, I will not live my life in fear.

I will wear a mask as part of every day life in public near other people... theater, movies, sporting events. Dining will be outdoors, hopefully away from others. hand washing will be the norm. Things we should be doing anyway to prevents all types of communicable disease.

[FBaggins]

5. There haven't been many reports of spread on planes

The risk is thought to be real... but falling infection numbers combined with rising vaccination rates significantly lessen that risk.

If you’re fully vaccinated, I wouldn’t personally be concerned in your situation... but the decision is yours.

[Terry_M]

6. pre-safety measures, it wasn't safe

There was some analysis, studies that showed how a cold would spread on a plane. But they did upgrade their safety measures and with masking I think the stats have been pretty good.

Kind of wish they keep the masking heh. I flew a lot pre-covid - when I get a cold it's almost always after a trip, and sometimes you can almost trace it back - yeah that guy right behind me that was taking cold meds and spent the 2.5 hour flight sneezing... That was probably why I started coming down with a cold the day after I got back.

[bamagal62]

7. Yep. It used to be like clockwork...

Get home from a flight. A couple of days later, you have a cold or the flu. Maybe always wearing a mask on a plane is a god idea, even after covid. (If there is ever an after COVID.)