Southwest CEO Gary Kelly has a message for weary travelers: it’s safe to fly.
He was a guest on Face The Nation yesterday on CBS and the very first question asked by host Margaret Brennan was whether it is safe to fly:
“It is. You know, we’re- we’re- we’re doing everything possible to encourage people to come back and fly. We’re cleaning airplanes. We’re requiring masks of our employees and our customers. We’re using very deep cleanings every night. We’re using electrostatic misters, which will kill the virus on surfaces for up to 30 days. We’re exercising social distancing. And onboard the aircraft, we won’t be booking airplanes full so that people can spread out. So absolutely, we’re doing everything we can to make it as safe as humanly possible.”
Brennan, knowingly or not, next pinpointed exactly on the farce of so-called “social distancing” on airplanes. She asked how open seats matter when the distance between an aisle and window seat is still far below the recommended six feet, people walk past each other to use the lavatory, and minimum distances are virtually impossible during boarding and deplaning.
Kelly responded by deflecting absolute risk and focusing on relative risk:
“I don’t think the risk on- on an airplane is any greater risk than anywhere else, and in fact, you just look at the layered approach that we use. It’s- it’s as safe as an environment as you’re going to find. We’re using hospital quality disinfectants, HEPA air filters to make sure that the air is- is properly filtered and clean. We’re not going- going to remove middle seats or prohibit people from sitting in middle seats. But at the same time, we won’t book the airplanes full. So, you know, if you choose, all the middle seats can be open.”
It’s a reasonable answer. There is no absolute safety, but I’d feel a lot safer on an airplane than I do when I go to the grocery store.
You can watch the entire interview below:
CONCLUSION
The rest of the interview is also interesting. Kelly talks about job cuts which appear all but inevitable. But the discourse on safety stuck out to me. Indeed, the world may be a dangerous place, but even in the era of COVID-19 an airplane is probably one of the safer communal spaces right now.
I agree that his response was reasonable, and that they are making it as safe as possible. But I don’t think it’s reasonable to say that airplanes are “one of the safer communal spaces”. As you say yourself, the basic premise of air travel doesn’t allow for proper social distancing, which is far more achievable somewhere like a grocery store. Furthermore, a grocery store allows each individual far greater control over one’s distance from others.
That’s not to say that airlines are doing anything wrong, it’s no ones fault. But the reality is that air travel is fundamentally incompatible with social distancing in ways that are very challenging to circumvent.
I spend as little time as possible in a grocery store, maybe 30 minutes once a week, wear a mask and stay as far as possible away from anyone else. 4 – 5 hours on an airplane with no control on who sits around you or how close they are? No thanks, not for the foreseeable future without a vaccine or significant treatments and testing.
Kool Aid.*
Stay at home if possible even if stay at home orders have full of exemptions.
*refers to mass suicide of 900 people in Jonestown where people drank poisoned Kool Aid like drink.
The response by the Southwest CEO was, in my opinion, not reasonable. It is at best misleading, and at worst, malicious. There is an increased risk of contracting the coronavirus when you take a flight. It is very unfortunate that even Southwest worships the $$$ over passenger health and safety.
I counted over 300 cars at Home Depot’s parking lot this last weekend as people were shopping for flowers, fertilizer, mulch, etc… And we are on lockdown because of a wimpy Governor. Thus, if you wear masks and take basic precautions on a plane I don’t see the problem.
@derek re: Kool Aid comment.
You neglect to mention that Jim Jones, was the founder and leader of The Peoples Temple. He gave the order for his followers to drink the Kool Aid.
Jim Jones was the machine and brains behind the San Francisco Democrats in the 1970s. He was responsible for getting a few of the following figures into office: George Moscow; Willie Brown; Diane Feinstein; and the saintly Harvey Milk (who has a terminal at SFO named after him.
Basically, it sounds like he is worried about his bonus being in jeopardy this year…
“but even in the era of COVID-19 an airplane is probably one of the safer communal spaces right now.”
Based on what?
That’s the pot calling the kettle black if I ever heard it.
Yeah, no bias here. Not. Like a realtor pimp screaming in 1906 San Francisco or Stalingrad in November 1942 ‘now is the best time to buy!’ Yeah, so the CEO is added to the growing list of self-annointed doctorates in virology, medicine, epidemiology. A do it yourself doctor, like Bill Vaccine Gates and his wife. Unbelievable.
and it’s this type of hubris mentality of GK that, instead of his helping his airline climb to new heights, he’s just helping the case curve soar all the way to Crown Heights.