Originally Posted by
FullWings
What is even more interesting is the behaviour of those who think a flight would be very risky but are happy to jump in a crowded van and go where thousands of people are congregating in close proximity.
Humans not good at instinctively estimating small risks, as usual.
There is much more science needed but given that many countries require temperature testing getting on and/or off and some do virus testing, you are already dealing with a likely lower probability of carriers on board, symptomatic or not. That and the fact that passengers are in a slower metabolic state, so less likely to be emitting viral particles by sweating, panting, etc. plus there are HEPA filters on modern aircraft that further reduce the level of pathogens in the air. That and mandatory mask use places a lot of barriers in the way of infection - these measures don’t eliminate risk but would appear to reduce it to a reasonable level compared with many other social situations.
I can believe all that, but to get to and from the aircraft you have to go through one of those other (anti)social situations - the airport. Was in France at Feb half term, by the time we were coming back things were starting to get worrying covid-wise, most scary part of the return trip from that point of view? (both at the time and analysed in hindsight) - the airport: check-in and security (second most scary: baggage reclaim). Actual flight was far less worrying.
The queues involved plenty of sweating, panting, odd bit of shouting, lots of physical contact, being pushed, shoved, people in your face, clothing removed and put back on, your stuff handled by multiple people, and so on, there were thousands crammed in tighter than you'd be allowed to transport livestock, for well over an hour in total, and quite possibly a longer exposure time than the actual flight.
I just can't see how airports are actually going to get back up to previous capacity with 2m or 1m+ social distancing, if you limit capacity in the terminal (like in the supermarkets, so I'm told) the outside queues will be miles long, you'll be able to park at the terminal and get a bus to the back of the queue or park miles away and have a short walk to the back of the queue. Only way I can see enough space, maybe, is if you ripped out all the shopping malls (and stuffed in a load more ventilation) - but that's the bit of the operation that actually makes money. The aircraft is in some ways the easiest bit to make more or less covid-safe, I'd be happy to do the actual flight if I didn't have to go through an airport, but air travel doesn't work that way (unless you have far more money than I will ever have).