Flying on a Commercial Airplane

5/7/2020 4:14:57 AM

I have to go back in forth between Tennessee and Florida a lot. The past couple of months, I have been driving. It's 700 miles so the drive is not easy. But this time, I decided to get back in a plane. Flew from Tampa to Nashville on Southwest.

The airport was kinda sad. All the little shops were closed except the newsstands. They had sections of the terminals that were closed off so they aren't using every area. Probably so they don't have to deep clean everywhere. On a typical Wednesday, Terminal C in Tampa will probably have 2-3 thousand people in it at one time. While I waited for my flight, I looked around and saw maybe a hundred people if you counted the people that worked there.

Got on the plane. You have to wear a mask while on a Southwest flight now. Those 737's hold 143 people. There were about 30 passengers on this flight. Everyone was all spaced out. They had two flight attendants but I'm not sure why. No beverages or snacks given out.

It's a good thing that fuel now is so cheap cause Southwest didn't pull in much revenue for that flight. I"m really afraid the US government is going to own the airlines very soon.

25 comments

Latest

shadowcat

•

5 years ago

Flight attendants are required by federal aviation regulations for safety not as servers. The number required is determined by the number of passenger seats not the actual number of passengers. Air lines can staff with more than the minimum required to help service.

mark94

•

5 years ago

When commercial aviation began in 1930, all flight attendants were nurses.

twentyfive

•

5 years ago

I received a solicitation from net jets, if you fly frequently enough does it get to a point where it’s cost effective?

Longball300

•

5 years ago

@ mark94 - Your comment reminded me of something I saw at the Henry Ford in Detroit about the early days of aviation and flight attendants. I posted the picture in the photo gallery,

skibum609

•

5 years ago

If airlines stop flying routes without a Federal waiver they lose the route, which is why they fly empty planes. Beurocratic red tape.

mark94

•

5 years ago

Somebody made a calculation years ago, maybe it’s still true, that if you looked at the airline industry as a whole going back in history, it had lost money. Some airlines make money for periods of time but most airlines eventually lose money and go out of business and/or declare bankruptcy. It’s a sexy business, but not a profitable one.

bdirect

•

5 years ago

the govt did control airlines but de-regulated the airlines and trucking years ago....that lead to more competition and lower ticket prices..... but caused less profit for airlines and BK. and hostile take-overs.....and now the the big fish are dead... so i see govt. take over airline again

mark94

•

5 years ago

Southwest Airlines was one of my clients in the 80s. I had a chance to work with their top management as they built the airline. Man, were they fun. Rebels on a mission. Everyone there was a little nuts. Customers loved them. Employees loved working there. They made money. Flying was fun.

I imagine, by now, the professional managers and bureaucrats are in control.

Rather than give control back to the government, I’d prefer to break the airline monopoly up and let dozens of smaller airlines compete.

bdirect

•

5 years ago

you seen first hand the cannibalism of the airline companies since de-reg

JamesSD

•

5 years ago

Man maybe I should fly that sounds much more relaxing than normal

mark94

•

5 years ago

When flying was fun

https://youtu.be/TR7JApjgIGw

bdirect

•

5 years ago

the good ole days for sure........flying was living the dream......... rip--- TWA, Pan Am, Braniff, Eastern......... the concord jet

shadowcat

•

5 years ago

Where I started 3/20/67
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfmRKHtz…

mjx01

•

5 years ago

I used to fly east/west coast about once a month before covid. With about 10-20 people on a flight right now, the flying part isn't what scares me. It's the potential lack of services (with things closed down) or worse getting sick away from home and not being allowed to travel back home is what concerns me.

501traveler

•

5 years ago

I've flown multiple times over the past 2 weeks and have a flight to Houston on Sunday. Airports and TSA check points are empty. Not many choices for food if you have a layover and no drinks or snacks served on flights, so bring your own drinks and snacks on the plane.

Southwest and American will require you wear a mask starting May 11th. All other airlines started requiring it May 4th.

One flight had 5 people on it with others being around 40 on the flight. Airlines have to keep flying to the airports they were servicing if they accepted the government grants. They could cut back to just one flight so there are a lot fewer flights now and a lot fewer non stop flight options.

Papi_Chulo

•

5 years ago

I've seen vids on the news of mostly empty planes, but seen a few vids of pretty-crowded planes (usually on busy routes like leaving from NYC) - would suck to be on a mostly crowded plane now.

And as @501 posted, my understanding is that airlines can't quit flying altogether if they wanna receive government grants.

Warrior15

•

4 years ago

I flew from Tampa to Nashville again today. They kept the middle seats open on both sides. But other than that, the plane was completely full. I think people are getting over the fear of flying. They did enforce the wearing of a face covering. But that's no big deal on a 2 hour flight. They did serve a snack and some water. No choices of cokes or drinks yet.

doctorevil

•

4 years ago

I flew about two weeks ago. Same experience: a little less than 2/3 full so they could keep the middle seats open. They announced masks were required, but I saw someone get on without one and they didn't say anything. No cabin service, but everyone was handed a 1 quart bag when they got on that contained a bottle of water and snacks. The biggest issue for me was that my destination normally had over a dozen flights a day. It's now down to two flights a day, so had to stay over an extra day to get back

SaltyNuts

•

4 years ago

I had a July flight reservation to the Philippines in July, All Nippon Airways just canceled the flight and refunded the fare without penalty.

TFP

•

4 years ago

Thanks for the update! I'm wonder how long it will be till they let every suit useable again?

Heellover

•

4 years ago

Thanks for the update. I never traveled much (flying at least). Wouldn't you know it had a family reunion in vegas scheduled for end of March. We had it planned for a good six months or so. Was on a tight time schedule was going to fly and had airline tickets through southwest. Obviously canceled and now have vouchers, but unsure of when we'll use them.

Cashman1234

•

4 years ago

It’s good folks are returning to air travel. The wearing of masks - and keeping middle seats open - seem like good ways to keep folks safe.

Mr_O

•

4 years ago

Quite a long time ago, I remember the son of a friend was working for a now gone major airline that was going on strike. he was bitching that he ONLY made $17 an hour. His job, clean the cabin, IE: take out the trash. He was hoping that the strike worked. When all was said and done and then was making about $8 as a janitor. I told him, "you guys really taught them!" He didn't care for that! Oh well, the truth hurts at times.

TFP

•

4 years ago

Revisiting this after hearing the news the United and now American Airlines will now book flights to capacity. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.…

I've cancelled all my trips this year so I'll just be sitting back and watching how this plays out.

mike710

•

4 years ago

Almost every American flight I've been on in the past 6 or 7 weeks has been running over 80% capacity anyway. I'm not sure how much safer you are having one seat or an aisle between you and the next passenger anyway. People have been pretty good about wearing their masks during flight.

American has been giving out a bag with water, a snack and a disinfecting wipe on flights over 2 hours. Southwest walks the aisle and hands out a snack and a can of water on every flight.

While I think flying might not be as safe as staying home, I don't freak out over it. Would I fly now if I didn't need to for may job? Maybe not, but not because I'm afraid of the virus. It's just kind of a pain in the ass now with a lot of stuff closed in airports and dealing with finding restaurants that are open in any place I travel.

If flying was a super spreader, flight crews all over the place would have caught this all over the country.

You must be a member to leave a comment.Join Now

Got something to say?

Start your own discussion