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Well, this looks cozy.
A cardiologist from San Francisco says he won’t be “flying again for a very long time” after every seat on his Saturday flight was full — despite allegedly receiving a previous message from United Airlines assuring him that middle seats would be blocked off to aid with social-distancing precautions amid the coronavirus health crisis.
FRONTIER AIRLINES BECOMES FIRST TO REQUIRE TEMPERATURE SCREENINGS OF ALL PASSENGERS
Dr. Ethan Weiss, a cardiologist and assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco, tweeted out a photo from what appeared to be his packed flight on Saturday, which was leaving from Newark, N.J., for San Francisco.
“I guess @United is relaxing their social distancing policy these days? Every seat full on this 737,” he wrote.
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Weiss further claimed that, on April 30, he was sent an email from United assuring customers that the airline would be “automatically blocking middle seats to give you enough space on board,” according to screenshots he shared on Twitter.
Weiss added that his fellow passengers were also “scared/shocked,” presumably for the same reason Weiss had raised concerns.
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Both Weiss and United Airlines have since confirmed that he was part of a group of 25 doctors and nurses that had initially flown the New York area in the past few weeks to volunteer their time. United Airlines had also flown the group to and from New York for free. Weiss had even said United got “a lot of great PR” following the initial flight in April, “including from me.”
However, regarding his return flight, Weiss said he was baffled as to why United would send him an email touting their middle-seat policy, only to not follow through.
WHICH AIRLINES ARE BLOCKING MIDDLE SEATS?
In a statement shared with Fox News on Monday, United Airlines reiterated their cleaning and safety protocol, but did not comment on their current middle-seat policy.
“We’ve overhauled our cleaning and safety procedures and implemented a new boarding and deplaning process to promote social distancing,” United wrote in its statement. “Our flight to San Francisco had an additional 25 medical professionals on board who were flying for free to volunteer their time in New York — we’ve provided complimentary flights for more than 1,000 doctors and nurses in the past few weeks alone — and all passengers and employees were asked to wear face coverings, consistent with our new policy.”
Meanwhile, guidelines posted to United Airlines’ own website indicates that “customers won't be able to select seats next to each other or middle seats where available,” but this practice is not guaranteed: United says this policy is merely “likely,” and based on “historically low travel demand.”
“We expect to keep these measures in place through May 31 and will continue to evaluate how best to proceed given the fluidity of the current situation,” the airline’s website currently reads.
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United Airlines is one of the many U.S. carriers to restrict passengers from being able to book middle seats on flights, although social media is rampant with accusations that the airlines are ignoring these policies.