Air Travel: Beware of these 4 things that you must accept after COVID?
“We who fly do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet.” — Cecil Day Lewis.
I was a frequent flyer until Covid struck! Last week, I took my first trip. Some things about air travel never change. My first flight was 3 hours late. Luckily, I had enough time to make my connection. Coming back, my initial flight was on time (a regional carrier.) But upon arriving at DFW airport, things fell apart again. I had time to eat (my second hamburger of the year.) Then I went to my gate for my flight. They changed the gate. After getting to the new gate, not close, of course, there was no sign that my flight was going to depart from that gate.
Point one. Of the things to be aware of when flying after COVID is another reduction in customer service. The gate attendants are understaffed and didn’t seem to know what was going on. They also weren’t interested in answering questions. Be prepared, there is a significant reduction in the feel of customer service. If you can’t find the information on your phone app or the airport display board, you may be out of luck. I finally found out I was in the right place, but there was another delay.
It did eventually leave from this new gate an hour late. This meant I arrived late at my destination and after getting my car and driving for an hour, I got home at 1 am. It was not a happy ending to what was a glorious trip other than the air travel.
Point two. The CDC has mandated that everyone wear a mask when in the airport or on the airplane. Wearing a mask means different things to different travelers. Covering your chin from which they exhaled no air was a common sight-not sure what good that does. Covering the mouth and chin but not your nose. This helps a little but doesn’t meet the intent of protecting people as you still inhale and exhale through your nose. If you don’t have a mask on, then they may give you one or just chose to not let you on the plane. Again, they have no flexibility. It is pointless to argue because this is a mandated situation, and they can’t change it. So why get angry with them.
Point number three. Perhaps because of COVID or just because of the gate attendant’s workload, you have to put your ticket on the scanner yourself. You used to just hand it to them, and they took care of the scanning. Some people don’t know which way the ticket needs to go on the scanner to be read. So it slows the loading process.
Final Point. Eating. Snacks and drinks on the plane are even more minimal than they were before COVID. In the back of the plane, they were not serving anything but simple water or soda. On my last flight coming home, they only passed out bottled water to those who wanted it. It was interesting. I read the label. It contained purified water as you would expect with added minerals (which I found amusing because of the contradiction.) How can it be purified, if you add back impurities such as minerals? In the west people add water purification systems to take the minerals out.
Eating at the airport was interesting as well. I went into TGIF’s getting my last burger on the trip. Along the wall were tables and hanging plastic barriers. But the barriers were only between some tables, not all. I guess some people looked healthier than others.
Flying remains better than driving long distances, but it is becoming even more of an unpleasant experience than it was before COVID. I hope that as more of us fly service will improve! So, Be Brave and experience flying in a post-COVID world. Bring a big dose of patience and understanding along with your carry-on luggage.
“You begin to fly when you let go of self-limiting beliefs and allow your mind and aspirations to rise to greater heights.” Brian Tracy.
