The number of people flying reached its highest point in more than three months, a peak following periods of steadily increasing travel numbers.
Meanwhile, congressional Democrats have been emphasizing for weeks the necessity of uniform federal health standards for airlines in the form of mandatory masks and capacity restrictions, with industry unions joining the chorus. In addition, Senate Republicans announced on Tuesday that they have started discussing another round of coronavirus relief, while those same union voices demand an extension of CARES Act payroll grants. All this has occurred as airlines add more flights and coronavirus infections rise regionally.
Aviation is at an inflection point, with major players diverging significantly on the matter of where to go from here.
The surge in travel has American Airlines increasing passenger capacity up to full for its flights starting on July 1, much to the dismay of public health officials. “We don’t think it’s the right message,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said of the move in a Senate hearing on Tuesday. United Airlines has not made such an announcement, but it has at least avoided firm commitments with respect to capacity restrictions.
Airlines are in a precarious position, caught between maximizing revenue where possible while prioritizing safety and discerning levels of necessary capacity limitations. That frame suggests that if airlines fly fuller planes, they are prioritizing money over passenger safety. The airlines flying fuller planes would reject that notion, responding with confidence in what they are doing to prevent virus transmission.
As for the reliance on capacity restrictions, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told investors in May that social distancing isn’t possible. “You can’t be 6 feet apart on an airplane, middle seat or not,” he said. For that reason, United and American are emphasizing mask usage, even threatening to ban customers who don’t comply, and touting their filtration systems as satisfactory virus mitigation measures.
Other airlines, including Delta, Southwest, and JetBlue, are hanging onto capacity restrictions for now, a move supported by House Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio. Back in May, DeFazio urged airlines to fly planes up to only 67% full. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Brian Schatz wish to see regulatory agencies make those kinds of guidances into rules. The Association of Flight Attendants has expressed similar support for making limited capacity binding.
Any health measures the airlines have taken up to this point have been self-imposed, and the shelf life of those commitments has varied by airline. Without actual rules, airlines will continue to dictate how they will operate, a matter of concern for members of Congress, industry leaders, and health officials, and presumably many prospective travelers.
With a chance for more aid to airlines in a new coronavirus relief package, there will be significantly more attention paid to the behavior of aid recipients. Last time around, the prevailing question was whether airlines deserved grants. If Congress offers it again, the question will be whether they are doing enough on the virus front and whether to condition new aid on that.
