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Earlier this week Austin and I flew from SLC -> ATL -> CLT on Delta and I wrote about it here. We headed home with two flights (CLT -> DFW -> SLC) on American Airlines on Sunday. Here is my update on what it is like to be flying in 2020.

Wondering what my experience of flying on Delta last weekend was like? Check out this post here.

If you missed the last post, I’ll give you a quick recap:

From 2017-March 2020 I flew approximately 2-8 times per week on both American and Delta. Then along with everyone else this ground to a halt in March of this year and I ended up staying at the house for three months. So when Austin’s regularly scheduled week off was coming up and we found ourselves with cancelled plans to Norway, we decided to head to North Carolina. I mean hey, North Carolina and Norway both start with “Nor” so it’s basically the same thing right? Le sigh.

Flying in 2020

Flying in 2020 is not the same experience as it was before. First off, it is more difficult than it was previously. When we were searching for flights to take to get us to North Carolina there were not very many good options. There were a lot of long layovers and they were actually quite expensive – which I was surprised about. If you are going to spend a lot of time bouncing around, here are some tips to survive long haul flights in economy here.

Masks, Social Distancing, and Cleaning

Masks

Delta and American Airlines were different when it comes to masks. Before the flight it was announced that you would be required to wear a face covering in the boarding area, while on board, and deplaning. You could ask for an exception (I’m assuming this is a medical exception) and they announced that some people would be granted them and to expect this on board. However they mentioned that failure to comply with the policy could cause you to be denied boarding on this flight or future American Airlines flights. Despite the actual policies being similar between the airlines, the overall mask policy felt much more enforced than on the Delta flight. Of course you can take your mask off to eat and drink on the plane but it’s expected that it is on in the meantime.

Social Distancing

As mentioned in my last post, Delta is limiting capacity in the first class cabin to 50% and they are leaving the middle seats empty for now. The flights back to Salt Lake City (CLT – > DFW -> SLC) were on American Airlines and this was not the case for them. The first class cabin was full on the first flight, 85% full on the second. There were some middle seats open throughout the main cabin, but not all. And when were boarding in CLT, I overhead the gate agent mentioning that this was the first flight to Dallas that could accommodate non-revenue passengers in several days . This indicates that plane capacity was high many days in a row, albeit anecdotal evidence.

Cleaning

Delta told us all about their cleaning procedures before we boarded and after we were onboard. With my American Airlines flights, I didn’t hear anything about an updated cleaning policy. The communication was more about the mask policy than the cleaning procedures.

Onboard service

You won’t be surprised to learn that part of the changes when flying in 2020 are with the onboard service. Instead of my usual Diet Coke pre-flight (and mid-flight) beverage, we were offered a gift bag with a bottle of water and two snacks inside as we boarded the plane. Alcohol is no longer being served onboard several airlines due to to COVID.

Deplaning

Another interesting difference between American Airlines and Delta was related to getting off of the plane. When we landed in both DFW and SLC on American, they highlighted that to encourage social distancing, we would be deplaning one row at a time. They even asked if people would wait to stand up until the row in front of them was done gathering their items. I can’t say how well people complied with this request as I was sitting in First Class on both flights. However, people crowding the aisle immediately when getting to the gate was a common issue pre-COVID.

Airport experience

One other thing that is different with flying in 2020 is the airport experience. Now that I have been in SLC, ATL, CLT, and DFW there were a few key themes. There were less restaurants and stores open. In total, I would estimate about 40% of restaurants were closed.

Customer Service

A unique touch I wasn’t expecting is that there was an American Airlines representative to greet me during the connection. This was to thank me for flying with them. A representative also called me two days after the trip to thank me for flying with them. I’m only including this as it’s not really a normal thing to have happen on American Airlines. This type of customer service is usually reserved for Delta.

Flying in 2020

If you were wondering about flying in 2020, hopefully this helps answer some of your questions.

So have you flown since mid-March or are you planning to? What did you think of the experience? Let me know in the comments.

If you don’t plan to travel anytime soon here are 51 things to do while social distancing and some virtual museum tours.

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