I Flew During the Coronavirus Pandemic in April 2020. It Was Surreal.

I flew during the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020. It was surreal.

Have you ever wondered what is was like to fly during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic?

I flew from Kansas City to Cleveland and back in April 2020 on a total of three planes. This was a time when everything was locked down, at least in the United States where I live, and air travel was discouraged.

I wish I had taken better pictures and I wish I made notes during my travels. (I am writing this in September 2020.) But the reason I had to fly in April was because of my father's death and doing a photo essay about air travel was absolutely the LAST thing on my mind.

I'm not a professional writer so this isn't captivating, edge-of-your-seat prose. And I'm obviously not a photographer, just snapping slightly blurry pics and videos with my iPhone 7. 

But if you are curious about what air travel was like in the heart of the pandemic, this will give you a little sneak peek.

Resources to check before flying.

If you are flying now or in the future, definitely check these websites for the most current information about what to expect when flying during Covid-19:

• CDC Official Website: Traveling During a Pandemic

• TSA Official Website: Covid-19 Information

• US Department of State: Check Travel Advisories and Information for US Citizens Traveling Abroad

Why I flew on a plane during the pandemic.

I am not one of those adventurous free-spirits who loves to travel, though I wish I were! I am not afraid of flying, but I have some apprehension any time I fly, which is usually only a few times a year. Mostly because so much of the experience is out of my control.

I was even more nervous flying during the height of the  Covid-19 pandemic.

My father passed away on April 18, 2020 and I booked a flight home to Cleveland the next day. I had lots of fear and anxiety around the trip. What if I caught the virus on the trip and was bringing Covid to my mom and siblings?

I felt healthy but, with growing numbers of cases in the US, my mom being elderly, and coronavirus fear porn in the news 24/7 it was really an excruciating decision. No doubt many people across the world had situations just like mine. A family member is sick or has passed and you agonize over the question: DO YOU GO?

I don't envy that decision, but ultimately I decided to be with my mom and family.

I am also a person who likes to plan her packing literally weeks in advance. I have a "Vacation" notebook in Evernote and I have saved every (incredibly detailed) packing list from every trip I’ve taken since 2010. That’s 10 year’s worth of obsessing about packing.

This time I wasn't worried about coordinated outfits or how many pairs of shoes would fit into my suitcase. Instead, I was worried about how to stay safe. I wanted to do everything I could to avoid germs and I’ll share exactly the steps I took to stay as germ-free as possible..

I did pack a care package for my mom.... a big tub of Clorox wipes, 2 jumbo rolls of toilet paper, and 2 boxes of spaghetti. All hot commodities in April 2020. I wish I could find Clorox Wipes now!

Arriving at the Kansas City International Airport on April 20, 2020.

The first thing I noticed, before I even entered the Kansas City International Airport, other than almost zero traffic, was the airplane graveyard. Actually graveyards plural, would be more accurate. In April 2020 most flights were cancelled and air travel was at an all-time low in recent history.

Interesting fact air travel facts.... 

In 2019, the TSA screened around 2.5 million passengers every day across the US, with some variation according to the day of the week. In April 2020, that has fallen to around 90,000 passengers. SOURCE.

From MCI: "The City of Kansas City, Mo., Aviation Department reports that 42,190 passengers arrived and departed through Kansas City International Airport’s gates in April, a 95.5 percent decrease from April 2019. Passenger boardings were down 95.5 percent, with a total of 21,036 boarded." 

I snapped a blurry pic of the planes while driving by and felt a real sense of sadness.

Sometimes, during this pandemic, I go about my day and things seem almost normal. I work from home, I'm not homeschooling small children, my husband goes to work everyday.  It's only when I turn on the news or scroll Twitter that I get slapped in the face with awful Covid news.

Seeing the grounded planes was another gut punch. They were a physical reminder of how devastating this virus is, physically and economically.

This pic was snapped through the car window, but you can see all the grounded flights lined up at the Kansas City International Airport. To me, it seemed just like an airplane graveyard.

My son dropped me off at the curb. We hugged goodbye, I put my mask on, and I entered the airport. 

Inside the airport it was eerily quiet and empty. It was very strange since it was 12:30pm on a Monday. Since I had some time before my flight I walked through the terminal and could go long stretches of time without seeing another human.

Almost all the stores and shops were closed. The bathrooms were empty. There was no line at security. 

It was weird going through security by myself. Not bad, but weird.

And it felt strange wearing a mask. This was the longest I had worn one and I was not used to it. I had a disposable blue mask and it kept climbing up too close to my eyes. I know you’re not supposed to fiddle with your mask, but I had to keep tugging it down by my eyes.

Apparently mask wearing was strange and different for some of the TSA workers I saw. One lady was tugging on her mask as much as I was. Mask wearing wasn’t mandatory for TSA workers until May 2020.

It sounds so trivial, but wearing a mask was yet another source of travel - and Covid - anxiety. 

I found an open snack stand and bought a bottle of water for the plane.

Here’s my plane. I love flying Southwest.

One good thing about an empty terminal is empty restrooms! As a female traveler this was an unexpected blessing. 

There were hardly any people in the gate area so I was easily able to social distance from others.

Flight from Kansas City to Milwaukee: April 20, 2020

The first leg of my trip was a short flight on Southwest Airlines from Kansas City to Milwaukee. I had an hour layover, then a flight to Cleveland.

I WISH I had taken photos on the plane, other than an awkward masked selfie, but it felt strange to do so.  As I mentioned, I'm not a reporter or a photojournalist. I don't like calling attention to myself, especially when I'm stressed out.  And I probably wouldn’t have liked it another passenger stood up and snapped pictures of the cabin.

Mask wearing by passengers was mixed; maybe 50% of the passengers had them on. Also, not all of the flight attendants wore masks on this flight.

In mid-April we didn’t have mask mandates and, in Kansas City where I live, they were just starting to be worn by the population. Kansas City did not get their first mask mandate until much later, June 29, 2020.

I wore my mask onto the plane and then took it off because there were no passengers within 6 feet of me.

Knowing what I know now, I would have kept my mask on the whole flight. In fact now (September 2020), masks are required to be worn in all US airports and on all US flights.

It just reminds me that what we know about Covid-19 is always changing, and the practices we follow change and evolve as well.

How I tried to stay safe and germ-free on the flight.

Before coronavirus I was not a germaphobe AT ALL.

I never really gave a thought to how many germs (or viruses!) could be lurking on items or surfaces that many people touch, like cash, door handles, and shopping carts.

Not to mention surfaces inside an airplane which are some of the filthiest you can possibly find.

Back in January I watched a YouTube video about germs on airplanes. It was totally unrelated to Covid-19, it was just one of those random YouTube “recommended videos.” It made an impression on me though. I traveled in late February and that was the first time I had taken precautions to keep icky germs away.

I upped my anti-bacterial game for my April 2020 flights.

These are the filthiest surfaces inside an airplane, according to “Marketplace," a CBC consumer watchdog news series:

• seat belts

• tray tables

• washroom handles

• seat pockets

• headrests

How I tried to avoid germs on an airplane during the pandemic.

1 - As soon as I found my seat, I used Purell wipes to wipe down EVERYTHING in my little area I might touch. The tray table, seat belt, arm rest, the headrest of my seat. For more information about disinfecting surfaces in this time of Covid-19, see the CDC’s website.

2- I wore my mask. As I mentioned, in April 2020 masks were not mandated and mask-wearing was a new phenomena in the United States. Now they are required on all US flights and in all US airports.

3- I used a really innovative airplane tray table cover and organizer, called Airplane Pockets, to keep my tray table germ free and organize my flight essentials so they did not touch ANY potentially filthy surfaces.

I bought Airplane Pockets before my February trip to Cleveland. It allowed me to have all my stuff organized and CLEAN right at my fingertips. I will never travel without it again.

It is a light-weight, stretchy, machine washable fabric organizer that slips over the airplane try table to keep your stuff from every touching a germy surface. It has four roomy pockets so I added my water bottle, phone, iPad and Apple Pencil, earbuds, and snacks. None of my stuff every came in contact with either the airplane tray table or the seat in front of me.

I had two flight attendants ask me about this organizer and where I found it.

Click to check out Airplane Pockets on Amazon. It was only about $25 and well worth the money for the peace of mine it provided me.

4- I washed my hands at the airport and used hand sanitizer often during the flights.

As we all know by now, the CDC recommends frequent hand washing or the use of hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available. So I washed my hands at the airport and used my strawberry Bath & Body Works anti-bacterial gel while on the plane.

Right now the TSA is allowing one liquid hand sanitizer container, up to 12 ounces per passenger, in carry-on bags. Definitely check the TSA website prior to your travel for any updates and what to expect during your pandemic-era screening.

I love Airplane Pockets! It keeps my electronics, water and snacks all organized and nothing touches filthy airplane surfaces. I always bring my own snacks and either purchase a bottle of water after I pass through security, or bring a reusable water bottle and fill it after security.

Southwest announced at the gate, and on the flight, that they would not provide drink or snack service due to the pandemic. You just sat down, occupied yourself, and arrived at your destination. It was all business.

I checked Southwest’s website and now they are providing water and snacks on most flights over 250 miles. If you are flying, definitely check with your carrier if you have questions or, do what I do - ALWAYS bring my own snacks and purchase water after I go through security!

Milwaukee to Cleveland: April 20, 2020

Landing in Milwaukee and entering the terminal it was the same experience as in Kansas City. Empty gates and very few people. Most stores were closed.

This video is what I saw when I got off the plane in Milwaukee, i.e., an empty terminal.

I snapped a pic of one of the departure signs. After my flight to Cleveland departed at 5:10 pm there were only 3 more flights leaving the terminal that day. 

At about 4pm there were only 4 remaining flights scheduled out of this terminal of the Milwaukee airport.

Their stats mirrored those in Kansas City.... about a 96% reduction in travel from April 2019.

“In April 2020, Milwaukee saw just 11,115 enplaned passengers compared with 281,129 in April 2019." That was about a 96% decline over the previous year’s statistics. SOURCE

Concourse C: Pizzeria Piccola

I was really hungry and, even though I had snacks in my tote bag (protein bars and beef jerky), I wanted real food. Thankfully there was one restaurant open in my terminal. It was Pizzeria Piccola, I was the only customer while I was sitting at that gate, and I had a really delicious flatbread spicy pepperoni pizza. I spent a few minutes chatting with the only employee at the counter. It was nice to speak to a human!

Anyway, eating the pizza killed some time and tasted delicious.

As it got closer to flight time I moved to my gate. There were only a handful of people.

In fact, there were only 14 passengers on a 175 seat jet, according to a Southwest employee.

This was a 5:15 flight on a Monday. Many of the passengers had masks, but not all.

One thing that was different (and it may have happened in Kansas City but I don’t remember) was that passengers with paper boarding passes - me! - scanned their own boarding passes. Most of the times I’ve flown in the past with a paper boarding pass I handed it to the ticket agent, they scanned it, and handed it back to me. Airports are going as “touch free” as possible now.

For whatever reason we were told we had to sit in the first 20 rows. On this flight all of the flight attendants were masked.

I landed in Cleveland and headed for the baggage claim. Even though there was ALL THE OVERHEAD BIN SPACE IN THE WORLD I had brought a suitcase too large to carry on, darn it.

As with the two prior airports, the concourse was empty. By the time I arrived at my baggage carousel it had totally stopped turning and my red suitcase was sitting on it, sad and alone. Just like me in the terminal, lol.

I walked outside and took a video of the passenger pickup area at the Cleveland Airport while I waited for my brother to pick me up. It was 7:15pm and basically no one else was outside. It was just odd and weird. Not bad, because I'm not a fan of huge crowds, fighting my way through masses of people to find a spot at the curb, or traveling chaos, but weird.

Flight from Cleveland to Kansas City through Chicago on April 26, 2020.

My flight home on April 26th was not a direct flight. It stopped at Chicago Midway but the same plane was flying to KC so I didn't have to deplane.

I arrived at the airport a little more than an hour before it was supposed to board and needed to check my bag. However, the Southwest counter was totally empty. I went to the United Counter next to it, which had a whopping 2 employees and zero customers, and inquired. They basically said "I don't know. Someone should show up."

So I waited. Alone.

When I walked inside the Cleveland Airport it was completely empty.

I’ll be honest, I was a little emotional. It was a stressful week coping with my dad’s death. We couldn’t have a proper funeral because of Covid. I had just said goodbye to my mom, sister, and nieces outside the airport. I had a lot of emotions to process.

Walking in to an empty airport just was ONE MORE FREAKING THING that was not normal and that Covid-19 had f*cked up.

I texted my husband and tried to hold it together.

At least there was no one around to see my almost-meltdown!

Eventually the Southwest employees did show up. Since 95% of flights were cut, they only staffed the counters shortly before a flight.

After I checked my bag I went through security. Once again, by myself.

I was texting my husband during this time "this is so creepy." Being almost alone in a big terminal. It was surreal experience. I felt like I had barely survived an apocalypse and any minute zombies would start lumbering down the empty halls.

Here’s a shaky video of walking through the Cleveland airport. Since Cleveland is home to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, they have rock art throughout the terminal. At least I had something interesting to look at.

I was really hopeful the Cinnabon stand was open inside the airport because, after a stressful week, I wanted a treat. This was definitely a time for comfort food! Sadly it was closed. Only Subway was open and, as you can probably guess, there was no one standing in line to order a 12-inch Spicy Italian on Wheat.

If there ever was a time I wanted comfort food, like Cinnabons, it was NOW! Sadly they were closed.

I bought some scratch-off lottery tickets out of a vending machine to pass the time. I didn't win, lol.

So many cancelled flights out of Cleveland and the rest of the world. I wish we could cancel 2020, tbh.

At the gate in Cleveland most of the passengers were wearing masks. This was a nice surprise. Like the other flights, there were only a handful of people boarding. Definitely less than 20.

And, for 2020 entertainment, there was a loud, obnoxious drunk guy. I'm sure loud, drunk people fly (or try to) all the time, but I've never personally seen one. I was hoping and praying Southwest would not let him board. He was dropping stuff all over the floor and yelling about making “thirty thousand dollars yesterday.”

The nice ticket agent kindly told him to "wait over there - they have to check something." I think that was airport code for "call security," lol. Thankfully they did not let him board. The last thing a plane full of anxious passengers needs during a pandemic is a drunken idiot on the flight.

Once on board I repeated my pre-flight disinfecting routine. I used my Purell wipes to wipe down my seat, tray table, seat belt, etc. and popped my Airplane Pockets over the tray table. Apparently this is going to be the new normal.

Passengers were very spread out so it was definitely a peaceful flight.

Like my previous April 2020 flights, drinks and snacks were not offered by Southwest.

Looking out the plane window as we approached Chicago-Midway.

This flight stopped at Chicago-Midway. This was my plane to Kansas City so I did not have to deplane. Most of the passengers left, a handful of people boarded, and we were off to Kansas City.

The ONE bright stop of the trip was landing in Kansas City and seeing this mural on the terminal wall. The Kansas City Chiefs had won the Super Bowl just a few months before.

So proud of the Kansas City Chiefs, Super Bowl 2020 Champions!

So this is my personal experience of flying in a pandemic. It was definitely surreal with a hint of apocalypse thrown in. I loved having no traffic at the airport, no lines at security, empty restrooms, and the plane mostly to myself.

I didn’t love the reason why. I didn’t love the anxiety I, and other travelers felt during this time and (as of September 2020) continue to feel.

I hope and pray Covid-19 disappears and/or we have a vaccine soon. I’ll take long TSA lines and crowded airplanes over a pandemic any day.

—Jacqui