This weekend my wife and I braved air travel and headed to Ohio to visit our son and his family. It is the first flight I have been on since March 7. I have to say that I felt reluctant to get on the plane due to COVID-19. After taking the journey, the flight was probably the safest part of the trip.
Normally I would have had someone drop us off at the airport but our daughter had to go to work. We could have parked at the airport but instead opted to take the train to the airport. It meant a 1-mile walk to the train station but I don't mind the exercise and so we did that. In hindsight, we should have parked at the airport. We had to change trains and have a 29-minute wait for a different train line in downtown Salt Lake. Neither my wife nor I minded the wait for our next train. What we did mind was the lack of thought for others on the train. I am not a fan of masks but they are required on the train. Not everyone felt obligated to wear one and about half of the passengers didn't bother. Unfortunately the people that didn't wear masks are part of the demographic in Salt Lake at most risk for COVID-19. I couldn't wait to get to the airport and off that train. Once there, I made sure to use a liberal quantity of hand sanitizer. I hope it works.
The security line at the airport moved very quickly and we found ourselves at the Southwest Airline gates. We had an early boarding number and found a row 4 seats back. I put my wife at the window and I took the isle. Southwest is not loading the planes to capacity so they can ensure all middle seats on the flight are empty. I appreciate that. Furthermore you are required to wear a mask on the flight. If you have some medical condition that prevents you from wearing a mask, they won't let you on the plane. The only exception is young children under the age of 2.
The flight went well to Chicago. The 2 and a half hour flight is the longest I have worn a mask since COVID-19 started. I hated it but am not complaining because I want everyone around me to be wearing a mask. We landed in Chicago and had to continue wearing masks until we got a pizza at one of few open restaurants in the airport. Once we finished the meal, the masks went back on. I have to admit that the airport really felt like a scene out of a zombie apocalypse movie.
The flight from Chicago to Cleveland lasted only 45 minutes and went quickly. My son picked us up at the airport and we had a relatively short drive to his home. Once there I could reflect on my flight experience. I feel a lot more comfortable about flying but it is not something I want to do frequently. In other words, I won't be doing it for work any time soon. I don't think I will be using the train any time soon though and would discourage anyone from doing so until COVID-19 has been resolved.
