
Flight Attendants and Covid-19 - imartin2k
https://confessionsfromaflightattendant.wordpress.com/2020/05/07/flight-attendants-and-covid-19/
======
ISL
The days of carefree travel will return. It'll be a while, but it will be
back.

In early March, looking for a park to sit quietly with my thoughts in the
sunshine but away from others, I found myself in a local cemetery. Alone, but
not far from a great many people.

Seattle's a pretty young place on the scale of things. I was surprised to find
that our local graveyard had a substantial contingent that had lived through
the 1918 flu. After noting, to my surprise, that there wasn't an obvious peak
in the deaths in 1918, I sat there and silently asked a number of them what
they'd tell us, if they could. I wasn't sure of the answers, but my
perspective was changed.

Everything all of us know as "normal" came after a number of devastating
pandemics. It'll be back, it'll be slightly different, but it will be the
same.

~~~
faizmokhtar
Personally, I think it will have permanent effects on airport operations.

Some of the steps like social distancing, wearing masks, temperature checks,
sanitizers, etc will remain even after the vaccine is found.

~~~
caseysoftware
And scary side thing to consider.. how many corona-virus vaccines have been
developed and deployed to date?

Even after SARS (another corona virus), there were a bunch of candidates and
some preliminary successes but none actually made it to market because
interest (aka funding) subsided. The same over and over again.

As of Jan 1, there were zero. People predicting "we'll have one in a year!" is
based on hope and other models, not corona-oriented vaccines. :(

~~~
rootusrootus
There are over 100 vaccines in development, several have completed phase 1
trials, and one is actually in production already so it will be available when
it completes phase 3.

We didn't need vaccines for SARS or MERS because they were both gone pretty
quickly and the number of affected individuals was never high enough to
warrant completing the expensive testing required to get approval for a
vaccine.

~~~
caseysoftware
Yes, exactly. I hope a) those vaccines yield useful results b) quickly enough
before people lose interest and funding.

~~~
eyelidlessness
They don't lose interest like it's some unstoppable force of nature on a
timer. They lose interest if the harm caused by the disease is either low or
contained. As long as the world continues to experience significant death,
impact on the health care system, and economic damage... there will be
interest in a vaccine.

------
walterbell
Humans continuously invent their "normals". There was no "old normal" and
there won't be a "new normal". Already, different countries and regions have
different cultures, histories, responses and outcomes. If anything, their
future societies are diverging as a result of conscious choices and actions by
humans exercising creative will.

~~~
Trasmatta
Out of all the buzzwords to come out of COVID, "new normal" is maybe my least
favorite. What the hell does it even mean?

~~~
akiselev
Like all great buzzwords, its vague enough to mean whatever the speaker wants
it to mean.

~~~
asplake
I suspect it may have been inspired by Virginia Satir’s change model,
specifically the “new status quo” at its end

------
SeanBoocock
Similar stories from a family member who is a major airline pilot. Light load
of trips on their (line) schedule, of those trips several get cancelled and of
the trips that don't get cancelled, certain legs of them will be day of such
that they will have to deadhead somewhere to pick up another flight or layover
in an unexpected city.

It's a mess and I don't think the (domestic) airline industry will look the
same a year from now.

------
tomohawk
> ... the gate agent is not going to be your personal valet because you didn’t
> have enough god-given common sense to plan your travels accordingly.

You can call ahead and arrange for a sky cap to assist you with luggage, or if
you ambulatory help, such as a wheel chair. This is well worth it if walking
through an airport will be challenging for you. The sky cap will get you past
the lines and through the airport in record time.

Make sure to tip them, as they work for tips.

~~~
ISL
The mobility assistance services (in this case, American Airlines) are a
godsend. My father has a terminal illness (well, we all do, but his is more
advanced) -- they made it possible for him to travel everywhere on a
complicated itinerary to see family. I traveled with him on much of the
journey; their assistance was incredible.

Tip high. They exceeded expectations in every airport.

~~~
jimmyswimmy
As a kid I used to do that job. Paid minimum wage plus the occasional tip. The
flight attendants and gate staff sometimes offer minimal assistance moving a
traveler into a stair chair when the person cannot even get out of their
seats, but usually they left even that to us. At least at US airports, those
guys work for the airport, not the airline.

------
ekianjo
From the same industry, a very good take from Mentour Pilot on how the crisis
will turn out in terms of the economic future of airlines (with 3 different
scenarios):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UJR9JFdMYI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UJR9JFdMYI)

------
tyingq
_" That woman by the way was traveling by herself with a dog kennel, a baby, a
car seat and two carry-on bags, and yet the airport was in the wrong for not
having anything or anyone ready to assist her as she deplaned"_

I actually think it's reasonable that the woman expects more from the airport.
They levy very high margin charges for landing, departure, parking, rent for
vendors, and so on. Reasonable service seems expected. Perhaps not a pre-
staged cart, but at least nearby phone (or number to text) to ask for one.

~~~
krisvage
I think that it is reasonable to expect the woman to check in the car seat and
at least one of the carry-ons as baggage. I also think it is reasonable for
the flight attendant and other passengers to expect the airline to enforce
their rules on this, although maybe with more leniency now, but do not then
expect extra service for breaking common curtesy.

~~~
owenmarshall
Lots of people have stopped flying infant in arms because it’s far safer for
babies to be properly secured. The FAA is rather clear on that.

That means the car seat wouldn’t be checked: it would be strapped down to a
seat and the baby strapped in that.

In this case, it’s very possible - even likely, because airlines like selling
seats - that baby _was a revenue passenger_ entitled to a carry-on bag of its
own.

~~~
ianlevesque
Entirely this. As someone who has flown with multiple children and/or infants
(I apologize to everyone who hates screaming children on planes), most of the
time now you buy a separate ticket for your baby and have them in a carseat
that is strapped into the plane seat. It's a logistical nightmare.

~~~
gvjddbnvdrbv
I've never seen a car seat on a plane. We flew multiple times with ours on our
laps.

~~~
ianlevesque
Sure, you can also not wear seatbelts or bike helmets. It’s a free country.

~~~
gvjddbnvdrbv
Actually seat belts are a legal requirement here.

A child seat on a plane is an illusion of safety. If the plane crashes it
won't help. The only reason to bring one into the cabin (and it is a good
reason) is if you need one where you are going.

~~~
owenmarshall
[https://www.faa.gov/travelers/fly_children/](https://www.faa.gov/travelers/fly_children/)

> Did you know that the safest place for your child on an airplane is in a
> government-approved child safety restraint system (CRS) or device, not on
> your lap? Your arms aren't capable of holding your child securely,
> especially during unexpected turbulence.

> The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strongly urges you to secure your
> child in a CRS or device for the duration of your flight

------
checker659
> The days of carefree travel are long gone.

I've been digging up videos of people from the early 1920s and I see very
little impact of the Spanish Flu on people's mannerisms even just within a
year or two after (like no masks in the streets even though mask wearing was
apparently a big thing during the pandemic). Just the other day, I was reading
up on Charlie Chaplin. Looking at his filmography, I noticed a a gap of just 1
year (between "A Day's Pleasure" released Dec 1919 and "The Kid" released Feb
2021) which is when the pandemic would've been raging across the land. (See
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chaplin_filmography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chaplin_filmography))

So, while I certainly watch in horror at what is happening with COVID-19 and
how the whole world has come to a standstill, if history is to be believed,
we'll bounce back faster than we suspect. Not tomorrow, maybe not even within
the next six months, but very likely within a year I think we'll be back in
full force.

~~~
ekianjo
> Within a year after a vaccine becomes available,

We have never successfully developed a vaccine for a coronavirus before. And
even if it's proven to be feasible, it will be unlikely to be very practical
(are we going to manufacture billions of doses? How long will it take? Won't
there be some kind of herd immunity by then?) and there are also indicators
that such vaccines would not be effective beyond 6 months or so.

The more I hear about a vaccine for this coronavirus, the less it seems like
the true solution for this crisis.

~~~
icegreentea2
Where did you get the 6 month figure from? It's true we really don't know how
things will pan out long term, but we know that there are lot's of
possibilities that all work out to something that's not awful in the long
term.

For example, we already produce and distribute an annual vaccine on the scale
of billions (the flu). The flu also has tampering effectiveness on a pretty
short time scale. The flu vaccine is also not 100% effective. And despite all
of those short comings, we're able to mitigate flu into something that people
literally use as the low bar for infectious diseases in terms of spread and
severity.

I think you're right that the vaccine is unlikely to let us eradicate
coronavirus, but it'll let us get back to a new normal - one that isn't
fundamentally different from our old normal (at least from a health
perspective - who knows what happens at a societal or policy level).

~~~
fpoling
The flu vaccine efficiency is rather low, between 19% and 60% depending on the
year, [https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccines-work/effectiveness-
studies....](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccines-work/effectiveness-studies.htm)

But what is interesting is that the current lockdown in Norway killed the flu
with season ending abruptly.

~~~
dragonwriter
That's not surprising! The lockdown is a general-purpose counter to
droplet/airborne-communicable diseases, it's not done for seasonal flu because
the cost is seen as disproportionate to the known benefit. Stopping other
communicable diseases is an expected side effect of the COVID-19 lockdowns.

------
sethammons
> The days of carefree travel are long gone.

I feel like that exited back in 2011.

~~~
Marsymars
What happened in 2011?

~~~
nkohari
Pretty sure they meant 2001, as in 9/11.

------
tspike
> No one could have ever predicted

...

~~~
Trasmatta
"No one could have ever predicted that this very common thing that's happened
all throughout human history would happen again"

------
sethammons
> Hotel check-ins now consist of wiping down all the surfaces and light
> switches in the room with antibacterial wipes.

I assume they mean something else. We are dealing with a virus. Alcohol and
bleach wipes ftw.

------
guscost
If you could find a working flight attendant who is _still_ susceptible to
COVID-19, I’d be astounded. Crazy times.

------
_curious_
Why was I expecting something...interesting and unique from this
sub/story...underwhelming :/

------
rb808
I think flight attendants is probably a job that should be for people that
have had CV and have recovered already. I can't imagine anyone doing that job
without becoming infected.

~~~
tyingq
At least for now, it's believable they could work safely. There's very few
people on the aircraft, and snacks/beverages are mostly stopped. Also,
contrary to popular belief, the air in the aircraft is refreshed fairly often
from the outside (via the engines).

------
boromi
I often get sick during travel. It's really annoying. But the last two trips I
got sick and I'm pretty sure it happened at the airport. So there is a
positive from this in terms of travel.

------
umvi
Since hospitals are practically empty right now, have we thought of allowing
people to voluntarily get infected/quarantined (using a tiny viral load)?
Obviously no old, immuno-compromised, or other vulnerable people. But for
healthy "essential" workers it would mean not living in fear that they might
get it... because they already got over it.

~~~
chdaniel
Genuine question: why are hospitals empty? Aren't people affected by covid
taken there?

~~~
sethammons
Hospitals in my area have laid off and/or furloughed nurses. Also in my state,
less than 500 people have tested positive (lack of testing for sure) and less
than 20 people have died. There are not enough sick people from COVID or
anything else to fill our hospitals. However, people are unable to do normal
treatments and elective procedures due to lockdowns or are unwilling to go due
to fear of COVID. Thus no money coming in to the hospitals thus layoffs and
furloughs.

