Posted on 03/04/2020 1:29:46 PM PST by ransomnote
Roosevelt Room
11:27 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much, everyone. Were with the great airline executives of the world, really. These are the biggest and the best, and know the business better than anybody. Theyve been in it for a long time, and theyve emerged in all cases, head their companies. And were talking about the effects of the virus on air travel and what they see.
In a certain way, you could say that the borders are automatically shut down, without having to say shut down. I mean, theyre, to a certain extent, automatically shut down. But its affecting the airline business, as it would. And a lot of people are staying in our country, and theyre shopping and using our hotels in this country. So, from that standpoint, I think, probably, theres a positive impact. But theres also an impact on overseas travel, which will be fairly substantial.
And, Mike, maybe Ill let you give a little briefing as to what weve just discussed.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr. President. And Im grateful to have the opportunity to meet with the leaders of our airline industry today.
You know, Mr. President, you said from early on that we were going to have a whole-of-government approach. But the truth is, as evidenced by all these great industry leaders, its really a whole-of-America approach.
THE PRESIDENT: Right.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And the American people deserve to know that, according to all of our experts, the risk to the average American of contracting the coronavirus remains low. And thats largely owing to your decision, Mr. President, to suspend all travel from China into the United States and to quarantine all Americans that are returning.
Its also owing to the tremendous cooperation of this industry, the airline industry. Because in addition to suspending travel from China, you recently made the decision to designate as do not travel certain areas of Italy, certain areas of South Korea. But we also, at your direction, have worked with this industry so that now, as of yesterday morning, all passengers on all direct flights from all airports in Italy or South Korea are being screened on multiple times before they board any of these airlines.
Were grateful for that, Mr. President. I know you are. And everyone here should know that were going to continue to follow the facts and the data.
Dr. Birx is working closely with all of our health officials to determine what additional screening might be required in the United States or in partners around the world. But our airlines are going to play a key role, Mr. President, in preventing the spread of this disease.
And even earlier today, at your direction, we met with leaders of our nursing home industry to talk about the measures of increased measures to prevent the spread of infectious disease. We sent new guidance out to nursing homes. Well be announcing later today new priority of inspections for infectious diseases. Were detailing that. We explained it to the industry today.
And also, on the issue of testing, Mr. President, youve made that a priority. Well have over a million tests in the field today.
I spoke to several governors this morning that were grateful for the fact that the changes that you made this weekend, through the FDA, now make it possible for state health clinics, as well as universities around the country, to be able to conduct coronavirus tests, but well also be meeting this afternoon with leaders of our commercial laboratories to make a coronavirus test more rapidly, more widely available for doctors offices, medical clinics, and consumers around the country.
So, Mr. President, as you said, it is a whole-of-government approach, but in a very real sense, its a whole-of-America approach. And Ive already expressed, and I know you feel a great deal of gratitude to our partners in industry and in the airline industry for acting on your priority to put the safety and health of the American people first.
THE PRESIDENT: Good, Mike. Thank you very much. I just want to add, if I might and to go a little bit further the Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what were doing. And we undid that decision a few days ago so that the testing can take place in a much more accurate and rapid fashion. That was a decision we disagreed with. I dont think we would have made it, but for some reason it was made. But weve undone that decision.
Also, when people come in from certain areas, were doing checks not only at the site of takeoff but at the site of landing. So when they land in our country, well also do it; thats if the planes are leaving from certain destinations.
I might ask, Doctor, if you could, Id like you to say a few words. Youve been doing a fantastic job in just a short time. We havent had much time, but youve really been doing a fan- a really fantastic time. Please.
DR. BIRX: Thank you. Well, before you came in, Mr. President, we talked about which Americans are most vulnerable and the fact that younger Americans may not be as vulnerable. So were really focused very much in that way, and I think the airline industry can help us also in any kind of screening required, particularly to protect our older Americans.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. Thank you. Thank you. Doug, do you have anything to say?
MR. PARKER: No. Thank you for having us. Thanks for the work were doing jointly to keep people safe. Were proud of our team. Were proud of the work theyre doing.
We appreciate the aggressive containment efforts that the United States has done to protect Americans and the role weve played in that. So were happy to be here and continue to be interested in anything we can, and particularly as we move from maybe aggressive containment to mitigation efforts, what can be done there as well.
THE PRESIDENT: Right. Doug is the head of American Airlines, as you know. Maybe well go around the room, if youd like to say something. Please.
MR. KELLY: Well, thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
MR. KELLY: And, again, we appreciate the leadership, appreciate the collaboration and coordination. And, certainly, the industry wants to do everything that we can to keep Americans safe and certainly our employees and our customers.
Weve stepped up our efforts to make sure the airplanes are clean and disinfected, and we work very closely with the CDC, and I think thats gone very, very well. So weve got the proper protocols in place whenever there is a suspected illness, and I think all that is working very well. I think everybody is doing a great job and doing all they can.
THE PRESIDENT: We appreciate the job youre doing. Thank you very much. Please.
MR. TILDEN: Brad Tilden with Alaska Airlines. We appreciate the efforts, Mr. President. I think, like all the folks around the table, the focus of the airline leadership teams is the safety of our employees and the safety of our customers, and thats where were focused.
I think all of us have made a lot of changes to our cleaning procedures, changes to our onboard procedures to gloves, sanitation, the service that our flight attendants are providing our customers. And were trying to do everything we can to help help everyone contain the virus and contain the spread of it.
And we appreciate it. And if theres more that we can do to help, we want to were here to tell you that we want to do that.
THE PRESIDENT: Are you using different things for the cleaning, the fluids? Are you using different cleaning (inaudible)?
MR. TILDEN: Weve taken a good look at them. The stuff that were using, I think weve concluded is effective. But we are changing the routines. Theres three levels of cleaning that we do and were intensifying the cleaning of the aircraft.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Great job.
Peter?
MR. INGRAM: Peter Ingram with Hawaiian Airlines. Mr. President, I echo my counterparts in the industry talking about the safety of our guests and our employees is paramount to everything we do. And we really appreciate the collaboration with the administration and the government to make sure that we are doing everything we can to ensure that.
I think it is it is very helpful to hear Dr. Birx talk about the specific areas of risk because there is a lot of concern out there. Theres concern internationally about travel and theres concern domestically. And I think the more information that we have to share with our guests about the facts is very helpful as we go forward with this challenge.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. Thank you very much. Thanks, Peter.
MR. KOSCAL: Matt Koscal with Republic Airways.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MR. KOSCAL: Thank you, Mr. President, for this opportunity for us to come together as leaders in the aviation industry and to have a sharing of information, which I think is critical. We all represent the men and women that are on the frontlines and need to ensure that they have the tools, resources, and information to do their job each and every day so that these efforts are effective.
And the one thing the aviation industry has proven it does very well is it comes together in times of challenge
THE PRESIDENT: Its true.
MR. KOSCAL: to provide a solution for this country. So I feel very confident that, with your leadership and all the folks in the room, that we will continue to serve, first and foremost, our employees so they can serve the customers who depend on us.
THE PRESIDENT: Thats very good. Chad, did you have anything to say about it?
ACTING SECRETARY WOLF: Well, I would just say, Mr. President: Again, at your leadership, were funneling to 11 specific airports and contract medical staff that we put in place. Weve screened over 53,000 individuals and prevented a number of folks from coming into the country. And thats largely due to the cooperation and the flexibility of the individuals in this room. So, again, thank you for everything that youre doing to help us keep America safe.
THE PRESIDENT: And, Chad, anything different on the southern border, where were doing so well? Were setting records on the southern border, in terms of allowing the people that are supposed to be here in, but not allowing others in. Anything new on the southern border?
ACTING SECRETARY WOLF: Well, again, from a screening standpoint, we have some of the same measures that we do at airports of entry and our land points of entry. So CBP officers and, again, contract medical staff some from HHS and some contract are, again, screening individuals and referring to CDC as necessary. So some of the same procedures at airports are taking place at land ports of entry, as well as maritime ports of entry.
So, for DHS, were looking at every way individuals come into the country, not just through the through the airports, making sure that were securing the country as a whole.
THE PRESIDENT: Good job. Thank you.
MR. CALIO: Mr. President, thank you for having us. We were delighted when you had made the Vice President the head of the interagency task force. We believe in collaboration. We want to try to solve these problems, both short- and long-term. Weve been sharing ideas with the Vice Presidents staff and your staff.
We think there are better ways to trace the passengers coming in. Weve contracted to have a mobile app and a website developed that everyone would have to fill out that would go directly to CDC with that information, and were moving forward with that.
So, theres been good progress. I think what we all need is the reassurance that you and the Vice President and others have been providing: that travel is safe and that we can go forward. Because right now, the fear is almost worse than the virus.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. No, were doing a good job. These professionals are really amazing. Theyve really stepped up, like the airlines have stepped up, very much so. Thank you.
Please.
MR. HAYES: Mr. President, Robin Hayes, JetBlue. Thank you very much for having us today, Mr. Vice President. And a lot of it has been said, but, you know, were doing taking many of the same measures as everyone else to keep our customers and our crew members, our employees safe and secure.
Thank you for putting the Vice President in charge of these efforts. The federal government has tremendous capability when it comes together and is orchestrated with a common goal.
And Id just like to spend a just a quick shout-out to the people in the federal government and the people that work for all of us who are really in the frontlines of this and the heroic efforts theyre making every day to keep us safe and secure.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.
Oscar?
MR. MUNOZ: Ill take a different angle, just because a lot of it has been said. I started my whole conversation here before you came in: The safety and health of our customers and our employees are the topmost. We will cooperate and collaborate with everything.
I think as I look through this from a personal lens, Im a heart transplant survivor. I am if you think of the poster child for the individual that could be affected by this, I am it. Im over the age and I have immune systems. And so, thats the task we take at United about making our planes safe. Were exploring all the different ideas and aspects that we can do to ensure that our planes are as safe as possible.
From the ask perspective, anything that continues to project stability, calm, and Dr. Birx, with regards to behavior, weve invented the corona bump at United, where youll see us all bumping each other. It may sound silly, but its a fun way of expressing what I think we all need to know is be careful for the next few weeks as we control this; that we adapt our behavior so that indeed we can continue to stay safe.
So thank you for everything and for having us.
THE PRESIDENT: And thats right: You are a heart transplant survivor.
MR. MUNOZ: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: I was reading about that. Hes one of the big executives, great executives of our country, of the world. And youre a heart transplant I tell you, you look very good to me, Oscar. (Laughter.)
MR. MUNOZ: I dont recommend it.
THE PRESIDENT: You have that one down. Dont recommend it. (Laughter.) But you thats a fantastic story. Wow. Thats great. Thank you very much, Oscar.
Mike, why dont you finish it up?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Mr. President. Again, the American people deserve to know that the threat of contracting the coronavirus remains low, according to all our experts.
But, at your direction, we are going to continue to bring the full resources of the federal government, and were going to enlist the full resources of American industry to keep the American people safe. And our airlines have been exceptional partners with us, not only the executives, but we also want to commend the crews that have been taking such good care of passengers, the people that are cleaning the planes, and keeping you all safe, and working with us on the screening process and the funneling process.
And, as you said, Mr. President, were going to continue to lean into this effort and we will well continue to do so until we find our way through the impacts of the coronavirus. And when we accomplish that, well accomplish it as one American people, as one team. And Im grateful to have the people on the team here in the room.
THE PRESIDENT: Great job, Mike. As certain areas get to be more of a problem, we may close them up, as we have done with numerous areas. At this moment, we think we have it very much in hand. Weve closed certain areas down very strongly in some cases, not whole countries, but certain areas within countries, like in Italy. We are, I think, doing a very effective job, in terms of that. Its very important.
The one thing that we were discussing before is you really dont know what the percentage is. Some people will have this at a very light level and wont even go to a doctor or hospital, and theyll get better. There are many people like that. Young people seem to be you cant say immune to it, but theyre certainly the numbers are very small. And it does affect the older people, like the nursing home situation that we have on the West Coast a single nursing home, where we have a pretty big percentage of people.
But as things go along so we were trying to adjust that number and were trying to see what the number might be. But if you add, you know, many, many people that have it and dont know they have it or they think they have a cold and, all of the sudden, theyre recovering from it, I think that number will probably be a lot different number than the twos and even the one and a halfs that were hearing. And I think thats an important thing for people to know.
Im very proud of the people in the administration. Im very proud of the airline business. You said it very well when you said the airline business always seem to pull together. Ive seen that over the years and this is a great case of it. And I want to thank you all. Youre great executives and you love the country and you love what you do. And thank you all very much. We appreciate it. Thank you.
Q Mr. President, are you considering giving any sort of financial support to the airlines to deal with that loss of business from overseas travel?
THE PRESIDENT: Dont ask that question, please. Because they havent asked it. (Laughter.) So, I dont want you to give them any ideas or youll end up heading an airline. Hell end up heading an airline. Thats a pretty tough question.
So, I dont know. Well, they havent we havent discussed that yet.
AIDE: All right. Thanks guys.
Q Mr. President, is your message that its safe to fly?
THE PRESIDENT: Wait, go ahead. What?
Q Is your message to Americans that its safe to fly? And can you convince the traveling public of that?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I think where these people are flying, its safe to fly. And large portions of the world are very safe to fly. So we dont want to say anything other than that. And we have closed down certain sections of the world, frankly, and theyve sort of automatically closed them also. Theyll understand that and they understand it better, perhaps, than anybody. Yes, its safe.
Q And are American businesses overreacting if theyre cutting down domestic travel and theyre telling people not to fly to conferences inside the United States?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, a lot of people are doing a lot of domestic business now, I can tell you. Theyre staying in this country. They feel safe because we have a if you look at a percentage, we have a very, very small percentage. And a big percentage of what we have is when we brought in the 40 or so people from the ship. We brought them in, we immediately quarantined them, but youre adding that to the numbers that we had, which were very small.
Now, what were going to do is, as people get better because we have you know, most of these people are getting better. Some are already released. Some are going home, some are, you know, get a full 100 percent report. Were going to take them off the list.
But we have a very small number of people in this country. We have a big country. The biggest impact we had was when we took the 40-plus people. Theyre Americans. I mean, I could say, Dont let them into the country. But these are Americans and they were literally stranded and it was very unfair.
We brought them back. We immediately quarantined them. But you add that to the numbers. But if you dont add that to the numbers, were talking about very small numbers in the United States.
Weve all done a very good job all of us. And I think the news has been and the for the most part, the media has has really treated us very fairly, which I appreciate. I think its very important.
Q When people get on planes, Mr. President, is there anything that they should be doing differently, since you think it is safe to fly and get on an airplane?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me ask the head of American Airlines and United Airlines.
Q Is there anything, for the executives around the table, that if youre a passenger, you get on that plane weve been told wash your hands.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Maybe Dr. Birx.
Q Is there anything that you guys that you have a message for passengers?
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Birx will be Ambassador. And then maybe you can say something.
DR. BIRX: Well, were always saying the common sense of washing your hands, not touching your face, ensuring that if you touched anything, you go and wash your hands again 20 seconds with soap. Hand sanitizers also work. But I think I was very reassured to hear the airlines talk about their cleaning procedures and their three levels of cleaning procedures because I think that will be reassuring to the American public.
THE PRESIDENT: And I havent touched my face in weeks. (Laughter.) Been weeks. I miss it.
Q Mr. President, would you do anything to address some of the concerns that maybe travelers who booked their flights and, you know, they might be, you know, coming up on a trip and they might have to make rearrangements. Is that something
THE PRESIDENT: Doug, what would you say about that?
MR. PARKER: Weve just issued a we put out a fare sale recently that allows customers the flexibility to book their travel in advance, and if they find they want to change that later, the change fees are waived. So I think all of us are working to find figure out ways to make sure theres flexibility for the traveling public.
THE PRESIDENT: I would think Oscar, how would you handle that? You have a lot of people, they book and now maybe
MR. MUNOZ: This is a time unprecedented in our history that we need to be absolutely understanding of peoples travel plans. And like Doug and most of the airlines, we are taking all appropriate measures to make sure that our customers get the best treatment.
THE PRESIDENT: I think people are going to be very impressed with what the airlines do.
Q Mr. President, you mentioned that Obama-era rule that you have changed
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q regarding this virus. I didnt follow that.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, well, lets talk about it. Go ahead.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: We could talk Bob Redfield, you might speak about the the last administration asserted FDA jurisdiction over testing and the development of tests like this. And Bob the President changed that on Saturday so that now, as I spoke to several governors this morning, the states now have the ability to actually conduct the coronavirus test in state labs, university laboratories.
THE PRESIDENT: Big difference.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And thats because of the change the President authorized.
And, Bob, you just might reflect on the changing jurisdiction of that thats freed up more available testing.
DR. REDFIELD: Well, thank you, Mr. Vice President. So, in the past, we used to be able to have laboratories that could develop what we call laboratory developed tests and then be able to apply them for clinical purposes. And in the previous administration, that became regulated so that, now, for someone to do that, they had to formally file with the FDA.
And what the Presidents decision did was allow that regulatory relief now and that those university labs and those other labs in this country now can be fully engaged in developing laboratory diagnostics for the clinical arena so the men and women in this nation can get access to and the doctors to get to know the extent of HIV in the patients that theyre caring for. Its, really, very important. Its whats changed the availability of testing overnight.
THE PRESIDENT: This was a very big move. And it was a it was something that we had to do and we did it very quickly. And now we have tremendous flexibility. Many, many more sites. Many, many more people. And you couldnt have had that under the Obama rule, and we ended that rule very quickly.
Yes.
Q Mr. President, on the contact tracing, can you explain what youre hoping to get from these folks? What more information do they need to track or share with the government?
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. Chad.
ACTING SECRETARY WOLF: So what were asking for is additional pieces of information so that the CDC, HHS, and others can track individuals as they come into the country and as they continue on to their final destination.
And if we need to, from a health perspective, to continue to reach out, continue to track them, and to get in touch with them, looking for a few more pieces of information and data from them.
Q Do you think youll get resolution in this meeting today on that?
THE PRESIDENT: I think we will continue to have conversations, but, yes, well get resolution.
Q Can I follow up on that question? The North Carolina case was someone who was at the nursing home in Washington State. Does the administration now have the contact information who were with that person on the flight to North Carolina?
DR. REDFIELD: That public health evaluation is ongoing right now, and were working with the airlines and obviously with the North Carolina health department. The CDC supports the local public health department to really get together to get all of that information. Its in progress.
Q But at this point, you do not have that the person the passenger information of people who were on that flight?
DR. REDFIELD: My understanding is that we have the manifest. Now the trick is to go find them. And thats why were having this discussion.
THE PRESIDENT: And much of that has been done already.
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. I cant believe it no questions on the election? This has to be very I cant (laughter) no, no. I cant believe it. (Inaudible). That was something.
Q What did you think about last night? You invited us, Mr. President. What did you think about last night?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think the election was great last night. I thought it was great. I thought the results were it was a great comeback for Joe Biden. Incredible comeback, when you think about it.
But if you wouldve looked if Elizabeth Warren wouldve done what she probably shouldve done, from their point of view, he wouldve won. Right? He wouldve won a lot of states, including Massachusetts, probably Texas, definitely Minnesota.
So Bernie wouldve won states that he lost, and he lost fairly easily. But, in particular, Massachusetts. I would say, Minnesota, in particular. I would also say Texas. And some others.
So had she I put something out on it this morning. She was really a spoiler because other people got out and those votes inured to Joe. And those people really helped Joe, you know, by getting out early the couple that got out and made the endorsement.
In the case of Elizabeth Warren, had she gotten out, it wouldve been a very different situation, I think. It wouldve been a very different night. Just that one simple move. Had she left, you pick up Massachusetts, Minnesota, and probably Texas. And those are the three I checked. I would imagine there are others that he wouldve picked up too.
So, Elizabeth Warren was the single biggest factor in that election last night. It wouldve been a very different thing, and not in a positive way for her in a very selfish way for her. She was very selfish from that point of view.
Now, do I care? No, because were just waiting to find out who were running against. But when you look at it pretty incredible. If she wouldve if she wouldve gotten out and endorsed even if she didnt she didnt even have to endorse. I think theres a lot of bad blood there. But had she gotten out and endorsed, he wouldve been a lot better off.
Q What do you think happens now?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, now, I think its a very tough I think its tough. I think Joe has an easier path right now, believe it or not. I see Mini Mike just got out, and hes going to, you know, try and save face by putting some money into Bidens campaign. And well see what happens. I dont think thats going to have an impact. You know, you got to look, money has to be spent wisely.
One thing this whole thing has shown is that you cant buy an election. Its a beautiful thing. Steyer put in 250, 300 hundred million dollars. And now who knows where he is. Hes home, probably licking his wounds.
And Bloomberg put in, probably, a billion dollars. And, you know, sometimes you just dont have what it takes. And I said to him, Its not easy doing what I did, is it? So its one of those things, you know. But its going to be very interesting.
To think that this wouldve changed so much because if you go before Saturday, before South Carolina, I mean, he had Joe had absolutely no chance, according to you people. But they used to say that about me too. Not as much though. I think I always felt I had a very good chance. But Id watch, and theyd say, Well, cant happen. But it happened, and it happened pretty easily. I think now its I think Joe actually would have the advantage now.
You know, if you look at the states hes going to with Florida and others, I think hes got an advantage in those states. But, again, had Elizabeth Warren endorsed Bernie, youre talking about a whole different subject. And thats not even a question. Youre talking about a whole because he wouldve gotten 80, 90, almost I mean, he wouldve gotten most of those votes. So youre talking about a much different thing.
Q What do you make of the stock markets reaction today? It seems like there has been a sigh of relief that
THE PRESIDENT: I think you know what it is? I think
Q now that Biden has the delegate lead over Sanders?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, Ive said from the beginning: Its partially this. Its a you know, a big part of this, but its also the fact that they didnt like seeing what theyre seeing. But they dont like they dont like Joe either. Joe has become you know, hes a lot of people are with Joe. If you look at those people, theyre worse than Bernie, in terms of being radical left.
I mean, some of Joes handlers and thats what they are, is handlers. I want to be nice, but they are handlers. Some of Joes handlers are further left than Bernie. Thats pretty scary. So, its going to be that way. Yeah.
Q Do you think Bloombergs money will be more powerful without Bloomberg himself in the race? I mean, he said hes going to continue to spend.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it couldnt be less powerful because look what a billion dollars did. He won nothing. I mean, he got so few delegates. Its incredible.
Q And now he says hes going to be spending it against you rather than for himself.
THE PRESIDENT: I would say, probably well, I know. Now hes doing that because, you know, hes spiteful and hes a spiteful guy. I know him well. Hes a very spiteful guy. Hes very upset. He made a fool out of himself, to be honest with you. And its hes not too happy about that. I think the first thing he should do is fire his political consultants because I couldve told I know him. I couldve told him very easily, You cant win. You can put $2 billion in; you cant win.
Okay. Thank you, everybody.
END
11:55 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it couldnt be less powerful because look what a billion dollars did. He won nothing. I mean, he got so few delegates. Its incredible.
Q And now he says hes going to be spending it against you rather than for himself.
THE PRESIDENT: I would say, probably well, I know. Now hes doing that because, you know, hes spiteful and hes a spiteful guy. I know him well. Hes a very spiteful guy. Hes very upset. He made a fool out of himself, to be honest with you. And its hes not too happy about that. I think the first thing he should do is fire his political consultants because I couldve told I know him. I couldve told him very easily, You cant win. You can put $2 billion in; you cant win.
wow, they are going to start cleaning planes instead of landing, offboarding and boarding with a 1 minute turnaround.
I don’t know if you remember the days when taking a plane wasn’t a PITA. And when people use to actually dress nicely for the trip. Food was edible and you could stretch a bit without POing 6 different people jammed in next to you.
Good times.
Per the CDC its likely not the reciculated air, which uses HEPA filtration and catches 99.9% of particles.
It’s the inconsiderate schmuck sitting nearby who’s hacking all over you.
They ought to be quizing passengers to weed out anyone with upper respiratory symptoms.
I remember flying from Twin Cities Intl to San Diego in 1977, one way flight was 100 bucks, evening flight.
“wow, they are going to start cleaning planes instead of landing, offboarding and boarding with a 1 minute turnaround.”
so they claim ...
426 bucks inflation adjusted to today
I suppose, but 100 bucks back then was still a pretty darn good price for then. Couldn’t do it every week, but it wasn’t a problem to save that amount for something special - like 25 bucks a week.
I used to automatically get a cold or respiratory infection after flying, but theyre doing a much better job on air scrubbing now and its been about four or five years since that has been a problem. But I only fly the major US airlines, mostly Delta, which does an excellent job.
The thing I think is most like to be a problem is contact with surfaces, so just bring some wipes and wipe off your tray table and arm rests, as well as any lavatory surfaces...and then give your self a hand-sanitizer treatment. I have seen a lot of people doing this for years, actually, and its a good idea. That said, most viruses die pretty quickly away from their host. But theres a lot of other things out there, such as e-coli, that you can get from touching something. And never touch your face! LOL!
I would only rarely have any reason to get on a plane, so not an issue for me.
And I’d take a pass even on free fares, anyway - at least until April. Feel for folks who have to fly for whatever reason, though.
Yeah, as I said, I just have no need for having to fly.
But when I have, the thing that got we was the stopped-up ears. Had people give me their hints to try to make them pop, but nuthin worked, takes about a week to go away on it’s own.
Forget viruses - I hated the plugged up ears. (Also, I’m not in love with heights, but that’s a different issue, heh)
This would have been a better meeting if Trump hadnt gone into politics, I think. They didnt ask and I think he shouldnt have gone there, because up to that point it was serious and good. The airline execs (and travelers) certainly have a reason to be concerned and he was good in dealing with it until then.
I chew gum as soon as we take off, chew until we reach our trip elevation, and then chew again when we start down. Works every time, but some of it depends on your ear canals and you may have narrow ones.
Must be something with the canals, gum didn’t help. I think it’s more a general head thing, sinuses, nose, ears - an ENT thing going up.
Probably. I always feel bad for babies, because you know its hurting them and they start to cry...maybe some open their mouths wide enough to pop the pressure out, but thats it, because they certainly cant chew gum!
Hadn’t thought about that - but, yea, the little ones have it really rough, they can’t tell you what hurts or what’s going on.
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