American and United to end social distancing – will book flights to full capacity

American and United Airlines end social distancing.

 

American and United Airlines have both opted to drop social distancing and begin to fill flights to capacity again.

 

Starting July 1, American Airlines will lift capacity restrictions, ending any effort to enforce social distancing on its planes.

 

The carrier did however say it will freely allow passengers to move to an available seat within their ticketed cabin.

 

According to reports, United Airlines said it will never put a cap on capacity or block middle seats on its aircraft.

 

It will nonetheless continue its policy of notifying customers 24 hours before their flight if it is likely to be full, allowing passengers to either re-book or receive a travel credit.

 

Other US-based carriers are keeping social distancing measures in place.

 

Delta Air Lines says it is capping seats at 60% of capacity and Southwest at about 67% until Sept 30.

 

JetBlue says it will leave middle seats empty through July 31 unless the passenger is travelling with somebody else in an adjoining seat.

 

Figures show more and more people are flying again as the summer season kicks in.

 

On Sunday, 633,810 passengers went through a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint – the highest daily number since March 18.

 

However, Covid-19 continues to spread in many parts of the United States, causing some states to pause their reopening.

 

At least 16 states have paused or rolled back their reopening plans.

 

In a meeting between airline executives and Vice President Mike Pence Friday, airlines were given the green light to begin creating a contact tracing app.