WEBVTT - Don't Forget That Facemask, Airlines Are Getting More Strict

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<v Speaker 1>It's Friday, June nine. I'm Oscar a Mirrors from the

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<v Speaker 1>Daily Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is Reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>We have shifted into a new phase in the coronavirus pandemic.

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<v Speaker 1>We're social distancing, washing our hands, wearing face masks, and

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<v Speaker 1>we're reopening the country. I'll still give you updates on

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<v Speaker 1>any new information about the virus and vaccine development, but

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<v Speaker 1>I'll also be focusing on how we're reopening America. Despite

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<v Speaker 1>what your local rules around face masks are, you'll want

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure you have one if you're gonna be flying.

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<v Speaker 1>Air travel is starting to pick up and most airlines

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<v Speaker 1>require that you wear a mask, but if you want

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<v Speaker 1>to be difficult, it could land you on an airline

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<v Speaker 1>no fly list. Scott McCartney, middle seat columnist at The

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<v Speaker 1>Wall Street Journal, joins us for flying in the pandemic.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for joining a Scott, gonna be with you, Oscar. So,

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<v Speaker 1>air travel has been rebounding. It's not at the levels

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<v Speaker 1>that it was last year, but just from a few

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<v Speaker 1>weeks ago, we're seeing like more people starting to fly,

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<v Speaker 1>so we're seeing an uptick and one of the interesting things,

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<v Speaker 1>obviously we're still living in this time of coronavirus, trying

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<v Speaker 1>to keep things clean and whatnot. But this kind of

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<v Speaker 1>whole argument about whether to wear a mask or not

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<v Speaker 1>to wear a mask that's playing out around the country

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<v Speaker 1>is also playing out with the airlines, and there's some

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<v Speaker 1>interesting things happening surrounding this. Some airlines, if you're not

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<v Speaker 1>wearing them, they could put you on it do not

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<v Speaker 1>fly list. Even Scott tell us a little bit about this. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>this has been a real problem for airlines. There are

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<v Speaker 1>no federal regulations on it, and airlines are only governed

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<v Speaker 1>by federal regulations, so whatever particular state does or city

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<v Speaker 1>does or whatever doesn't apply to airlines, so they're kind

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<v Speaker 1>of on their own. Most all of them in the US,

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<v Speaker 1>with the exception of Allegiance, have required a mask, but

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<v Speaker 1>many of them, Delta, United American and others were simply

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<v Speaker 1>enforcing it at the gate on the ground and not

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<v Speaker 1>in the air and a lot of people were getting

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<v Speaker 1>on the airplane and taking them off. And as you mentioned,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a great debate. Some people think they don't need

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<v Speaker 1>to wear them, and some people think that's offensive because

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<v Speaker 1>when you wear a mask, you're not really protecting yourself,

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<v Speaker 1>you're protecting everybody around you in case you happen to

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<v Speaker 1>be infected. So this week, airlines have gone to a

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<v Speaker 1>tougher approach, at least at American United Delta. It's an

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<v Speaker 1>approach that actually Jet Blue and Hawaiian have been doing already,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is, if you're not going to comply, their

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<v Speaker 1>flight attendants aren't going to pick a fight with you

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<v Speaker 1>in the air, but when you get on the ground,

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<v Speaker 1>they're gonna quiz you about why you didn't comply, And

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<v Speaker 1>the airline has the option of putting you on a

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<v Speaker 1>restricted list. Now that's up to each airline. It's not

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<v Speaker 1>clear how long you might be restricted on the airlines

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<v Speaker 1>no fly list. I think it really depends on how

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<v Speaker 1>big a jerk you are about it. But it's a

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<v Speaker 1>threat that I think will resonate with a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>travelers and force more compliance. Um So the fight attendants

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<v Speaker 1>can say, hey, if you're not gonna put your mask on,

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna turn in your seat number. They're gonna put

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<v Speaker 1>you on the no fly list, and I think that

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<v Speaker 1>will force more compliance in the cabin. Those are some

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<v Speaker 1>strict measures right there, But if you need to get somewhere.

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<v Speaker 1>If you get someone you want to go back home

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<v Speaker 1>and you had your round trip with the same airline,

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<v Speaker 1>that should be enough to scare a lot of people

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<v Speaker 1>into just backing down and doing it. But it's an

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<v Speaker 1>important thing. You know, there's recent surveys that have been

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<v Speaker 1>done that say that airport cleanliness is at the top

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<v Speaker 1>of the list right now. It's up there with the

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<v Speaker 1>prices of the actual flights. I think Southwest did their

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<v Speaker 1>own surveying and it said the top three concerns for

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<v Speaker 1>their passengers are clean surfaces, clean air, and masks. So

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<v Speaker 1>it's a really important thing. Yeah, it is. And the

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<v Speaker 1>survey you mentioned, uh, really quite remarkable of the travelers,

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<v Speaker 1>and the survey said cleanliness was huge factor in a

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<v Speaker 1>buying decision, really in a travel or don't travel decision,

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<v Speaker 1>and that was at the same rate as ticket price.

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<v Speaker 1>The folks who did the survey had never before seen

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<v Speaker 1>another factor that scored as high as ticket price. So

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<v Speaker 1>this is really important to travelers. You know. You mentioned

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<v Speaker 1>the rebound and travel, and yes, over the last two

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<v Speaker 1>weeks or so, there's been about a fifty jump in

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<v Speaker 1>the number of people actually traveling. But it's off a

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<v Speaker 1>very small base. The total number of people traveling is

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<v Speaker 1>still down about from where it was, so to get

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<v Speaker 1>all those people back, there's going to have to be

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<v Speaker 1>confidence that it's safe to travel. And you know, I

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<v Speaker 1>think the inconsistency that we've seen with with airlines and

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<v Speaker 1>airports just the general notion of is it going to

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<v Speaker 1>be safe or not, and there's not a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>confidence in that, and a lot of people aren't going

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<v Speaker 1>to get back on airplanes until they get that confidence.

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<v Speaker 1>And this is the early part, though, This is the

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<v Speaker 1>part where the confusion happens and real policies are set

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<v Speaker 1>in place so that when the real uptick does happen,

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<v Speaker 1>everything is kind of already set. And obviously it does

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<v Speaker 1>seem like this mask wearing is going to be something

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<v Speaker 1>that's going to be enforced a lot more stricter across

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<v Speaker 1>the board. And we have to remember, too, what happens

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<v Speaker 1>on the planes where your most susceptible to get sick.

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<v Speaker 1>And there's this thing known as the hot zone, and

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<v Speaker 1>these are the area of the two rows behind you

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<v Speaker 1>and in front of you, and someone's not wearing a

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<v Speaker 1>mask and they sneeze, and that's going to go up

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<v Speaker 1>in the air and that's how transmission of this thing

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<v Speaker 1>could happen. So it's really important on that. And I

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<v Speaker 1>know that the airlines are also experimenting with not filling

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<v Speaker 1>the middle seat or kind of offsetting the rows behind them,

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<v Speaker 1>things like that. On an airplane. On a basic single

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<v Speaker 1>aisle airplane, the tube is about twelve ft wide. It's

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<v Speaker 1>really hard to get six ft apart. And as you mentioned,

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<v Speaker 1>the folks in the road behind you, um, a row

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<v Speaker 1>is not a yard wide, there inches away from you.

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<v Speaker 1>And so there has been a lot of medical research

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<v Speaker 1>on transmission of viruses and other diseases on airplanes, and

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<v Speaker 1>the key thing is the two rows in front, two

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<v Speaker 1>rows behind. I think even with this, you know, even

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<v Speaker 1>somebody walking down the aisle who happens to coffer sneeze,

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<v Speaker 1>if you're sitting in the aisle seat, that's a risk

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<v Speaker 1>of exposure. So there's really good ventilation and filtering of

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<v Speaker 1>the air on the air plane, and it does move

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<v Speaker 1>air from the ceiling to the floor, not sort of

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<v Speaker 1>cross wise. And those filters on an airplane can filter

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<v Speaker 1>out coronavirus, or at least substantially filter out coronavirus. So

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<v Speaker 1>there are a lot of reasons that you can have

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<v Speaker 1>some comfort that you're going to be safe, but the

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<v Speaker 1>real risk is being in close quarters with people. That's

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<v Speaker 1>just by definition what's going to happen on an airplane

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<v Speaker 1>and getting exposed to whatever they're coughing, sneezing, talking. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's why masks are so important. And you mentioned it

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<v Speaker 1>in your article and I've seen all over the place.

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<v Speaker 1>Make sure to open that air events a full blast

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<v Speaker 1>to keep that air moving and just be prepared to

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<v Speaker 1>have those masks because you don't want to end up

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<v Speaker 1>on it do not fly list just because of that,

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<v Speaker 1>so just make sure to bring him. Scott McCartney, writer

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<v Speaker 1>of the Middle Seat column for The Wall Street Journal,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you very much for joining us. Sure always going

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<v Speaker 1>to be with you. Oscar. I'm Oscar Ramirez and this

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<v Speaker 1>is reopening America. Don't forget today's big news stories. You

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<v Speaker 1>can check me out on the Daily Dive podcast every

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<v Speaker 1>Monday at the Friday so follow us on I Heart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio or wherever you get your podcast