You couldn’t even pay me to fly United or American Airlines right now, and here’s why

[Andy Meek]

• American Airlines and United Airlines have resumed selling potentially packed flights, now that they've reversed their temporary coronavirus-inspired policy of blocking middle seats.
• New research argues that reversal roughly doubles your chance of contracting the coronavirus on one of these now-full flights, compared to your chances of contracting the virus on a flight where middle seats continue to be blocked.
• Carriers like Delta and Southwest Airlines are among those that are still flying at a reduced capacity because of the coronavirus.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, I (and lots of other frequent flyers I know) tended to avoid American Airlines like the plague, for reasons that included the horribly cramped seats. But you don't have to take my word for it -- here's an Inc. magazine article ranting about this same thing, titled "American Airlines Just Sneakily Scheduled Its Most Insanely Cramped Plane for a Really, Really Long Flight."

This is an airline that has punished even its First Class passengers by reducing legroom. Its own pilots have complained about its planes, and in 2019, American Airlines reportedly bumped more passengers off of overbooked flights than all other US airlines combined. Additionally, as we noted just a few days ago, the director of the CDC has lamented a move by the carrier to resume filling its middle seats again, something it had briefly paused since the world is, you know, in the midst of a pandemic. What's more, a new study has found that airlines like American (along with United) which have resumed booking passengers in middle seats are roughly doubling your chance of catching the coronavirus on that flight.

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You couldn’t even pay me to fly United or American Airlines right now, and here’s why originally appeared on BGR.com on Sat, 11 Jul 2020 at 21:51:45 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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