Article: Should Airlines Rebook Sick Passengers for Free?

[tdimdad]

To be honest, I'm very surprised they let you fly but I commend you for declaring it. But if you are allowed to fly, you just have to rely on the staff/crew to do what they see is best.

That's what I counted on and and why I initially raised it already at the check-in. The airline would be best placed to assess the risk based on the circumstances, the load, etc, and I had prepared for a rejection. In fact, I expected to be delayed by at least a day but went in with the hopes that suitable arrangements can be made and I can get through at least one leg at a time.

I was feeling functional, powered by regular low dose of paracetamol. After being pulled off the line at the gate in HEL, two agents kept an eye on me for some ten minutes and then confirmed my condition. They also had already cleared it in advance with the purser/CSM who seemed to had set the T&C's for my boarding. The agents apparently felt comfortable enough to let me in with the respective instructions.

AY was on the ball and clear about confirming whether I ought to be onboard. It felt like QF did care much at all.

We often see the CSM's as the front of service delivery but this experience reminded that they also are responsible for the cabin & crew health and safety. A lesser-seen part but critically important (I'd suggest that it's even more important than the success of the soft product on a given flight).

 

[UP4014]

COVID has become basically the same as influenza, including illness & the chance of death.
People are a lot more aware of COVID ... well der, we all lived through the uncertainty & stress & strangeness of it ... but as it is now, influenza is as much a threat. Yet we didn't particularly worry about the 'flu before 2020.

COVID does have a much higher mortality rate than regular flu, but they both can put you out of action.

 

[Warks]

Had a few flights last week and on the first leg I heard so much coughing and sneezing (not next to me thankfully) that I whipped out my N95 mask for the rest of the trip. That familiar feeling of elastic pulling on my ears, how I haven't missed you!

 

[Cazwa]

I'm sorry you had to sit tight and just endure the trip without an escape! A full flight is a pain in this sense, there's no way to arrange the seats to give any separation for the ill one from other pax. All we can do is try to keep ourselves in shape and protections in the bag (mask, hand sani, and whatever else you may want).

Coincidentally, I was just about the open a new thread here about flying with while sick. I managed to test covid positive 32 hours before commencing my return journey from Europe back home (three flights). In summary:

1) I let the AY check-in agent know that I've tested positive and am happy to be re-seated to create distance from other pax. She let me through but said that I'm likely to get further instructions at the gate. She also added a respective comment to my booking. The flight was pretty full so no re-seating. The same agent was also at the gate and pulled me off from the queue. They had confirmed with the purser (CMS) that I can fly, re-asked about my condition, and I got a stern command to keep the mask on all the time gate-to-gate, not move around (except for bathroom) and no special requests / service are guaranteed.

2) Connecting to QF2, I didn't mention anything specific when boarding since it was a 100% full flight. There'd be no shuffling along to different seats. In SIN, when boarding, the CSM pulled me aside to mention that I have a shadow (in Y). Because the flight has a light load in Y, I had already planned to mention to them that I'm positive and happy to be moved around & separated from other pax. This ended up being a middle block of four seats which - at that point - had the row in front and behind empty. A great place!
But... After the take-off, FA's started to allow other pax to seek empty rows for a sleep. So, instead of isolation, I ended up having quite a few people around me.

--> My question is: what would be the best way to arrange the seating when flying with a communicable disease? I tried to do it with a real person at the airport check-in desk and on-board but effectively ended up being next to others on all flights.

Simple. You shouldn't have flown and had some basic respect for others onboard.

 

[Quickstatus]

Most if not all people will still fly even if they have respiratory symptoms. It's the nature of the beast.

It's more or less unavoidable. Having said that, the anecdotal reports that I've read of individuals with active infectious travelling on airplane including measles, TB, Covid, influenza have not been correlated with a spike in infections in co-passengers.

I think the air is also better than on a packed train/bus

The likelihood of transmission include:
Infectiousness of the index case
Susceptibility of the exposed
Duration of exposure
Proximity of exposure
Cabin ventilation ,

While droplet exposure is the main way to catch a lurgy, don't forget you can also catch the lurgies from touching the surfaces around your seat which are hardly ever cleaned on an aircraft turnaround.

Just carry a N95 mask and some alcohol wipes

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

My daughter in law is a high school teacher.
She went to a conference in Melbourne and came back with Covid. She only works part time, I said so off work this week? She said no, school policy is to come to work. Only stay off if you are really sick. There is such a shortage of casual teachers.

Is this in a public or private school?

 

[ellen10]

A local catholic school

 

[Xrayspice]

We had a thread on this recently and it's a tough one.

I'd hate to catch a virus/bacteria off someone but if a person has booked a flight and has cold symptoms at the last minute should they cancel all travel until they are better?

Covid is more serious but this is what happens when there is no control. Keep wearing masks even if people around you don't show any symptoms.

P.S. This is now week 6 of me coughing. Sometimes cough starts and does not stop. I don't know what I've got or whether I'm infectious. It could be stress/anxiety, allergy or some viral/bacterial infection that has done some damage. Due to leave Thailand and back to Brisbane in 5 days. Should I stay here until cough goes away?

Fly home. Keep living your life. People have been flying with flu since flying was invented.

 

[Princess Fiona]

<ADMIN HAT

Please note we do not permit discussion of Covid / Vaccines etc unless it’s specifically related to travel. All such posts have been removed.
You may continue to discuss flying whilst sick but do not post discussion on Covid related epidemiology/ vaccines / mandates etc.

Covid 19 posts

ADMIN HAT >

 

[Seat0B]

Yeah, knowing when to go can really be tough. There is an interesting story about how I came to retire, but I suspect it will be off topic here.

you should start a thread on this - think there are quite a few interesting stories out there!

 

[SeatBackForward]

Even if I'm completely fine, I often end up sneezing after a few hours due to the dryness of the cabin air. If I've been sleeping it's more pronounced after I wake up. It makes me always think "bet people around me think I'm unwell".

Surely I'm not the only one to experience this?

 

[Forg]

Even if I'm completely fine, I often end up sneezing after a few hours due to the dryness of the cabin air. If I've been sleeping it's more pronounced after I wake up. It makes me always think "bet people around me think I'm unwell".

Surely I'm not the only one to experience this?

Sleeping on a 'plane? No, not I ...

 

[tdimdad]

Even if I'm completely fine, I often end up sneezing after a few hours due to the dryness of the cabin air. If I've been sleeping it's more pronounced after I wake up. It makes me always think "bet people around me think I'm unwell".

Surely I'm not the only one to experience this?

Happens often to me, too, sometimes even on a short hop. I manage often to slow it down by sleeping / pretending to sleep, i.e. forcing the body to rest. But as soon as I open my eyes, the gates open again. Must be annoying to the seat neighbours.

 

[elanshin]

We cough and sneeze for all sorts of reasons many of which have nothing to do with being sick. It's just in a post covid world everyone seems a lot more alert.

On the original topic, I do think the airlines have a more general policy to try to be compassionate, but I also understand why they choose not to put it into writing as an actual policy. If you start defining whats ok and not ok, it can lead to all sorts of cases to either be abused or someone's condition falling through the cracks. Case by case is more work but actually the better solution.

 

[JohnK]

Someone mentioned the person coughing non-stop in middle seat should not have been allowed to board.

I think we can safely say getting sick was not their fault and more than likely picked up from someone who was careless about infecting anyone else or they did not know they were infectious. This is not just about covid but any sickness. Flu, RSV, bronchitis, pneumonia etc.

Here are 2 scenarios that can be extremely troublesome. Not sure what travel insurance covers, if they cover at all.

You've been in Thailand for 28 days and about to board flight back home but you're coughing/sneezing and denied boarding. You now lose your flight, need to book last minute flight when you're not sick (how long do the symptoms last?) book last minute hotels. What about overstay visa? Can be very expensive and a stain on your record.

You're travelling LHR-SIN-SYD with 5-6 hour transit in SIN. You show symptoms of sickness during LHR-SIN flight and you're not feeling well in SIN. Denied boarding for 2nd leg. You're now stuck in SIN for how long? Need to book last minute hotels and onward flights? What if it was the other way around like SYD-SIN-LHR but with tours and onward flights that are not flexible. What if they were transitting somewhere they could not enter?

I'm the first person that would say I don't want to be sick from someone else but it'd be cruel to deny someone boarding and ruin their plans/trip. Either travel insurance needs to cover everything but at the same time airlines need to provide flexibility too. They both make a lot of money.