blowing their nose just inches from your air intake orifices. I've gotten sick twice in the last 4 months, just because I have ZERO choice about who gets to sit beside me. Luckily, it was on my way home from work, and not on my way to work (I work out of state in healthcare). Still, try as I might to avoid it, then my whole fam get's sick. On one occasion, I was incubating and asymptomatic, then got sick 3 days after the flight, and then the fam was already exposed, so hard to do anything about that.
But, the airlines need to do something about this!! During Covid, they were incredibly strict, needing negative tests, no symptoms, and sometimes checking temps. I'm not recommending all that, but to go from everything to basically nothing, makes no sense. People still die from Covid and influenza every year in the thousands, and thousands of babies (and eldery) get hospitalized (some die) when exposed to an adult who gives them RSV. And for me, if I get Covid, I can't work in many settings, and that can mean thousands of dollars in lost income. Or, I personally have numerous risk factors that could mean a life threatening case of Covid, or death if I get it. Sure, chances are low, but stakes are high, so that makes it an issue. And the airlines just want to shuffle their feet and look the other way, because addressing the issue would be at a cost, albeit not that much.
And it's a huge problem when I don't get to choose who I sit by on a plane, literally inches from someone who has secretions flying everywhere. I can avoid people in the airport, and wash my hands / sanitize when I choose, but on the plane, even with a mask, it can be a huge risk. And asking to change seats is not always possible on full flights. Plus, it's not me who should have to make a scene, it's the person who is sick, if anyone. But no one ever will. They will just "hope" that it all turns out OK, even though the outcome happens long after leaving the plane. So, it's the airlines that need to take charge of this, as no individuals will.
It's very simple. They need to go back to screening questions, so that people have to disclose, and then if they don't, and are noticed to be symptomatic on the plane, they can politely be asked to follow guidelines. Then it wouldn't be a big deal if they asked to wear a mask and move seats, and fewer people would lie about symptoms, knowing that they'd make a scene on the plane otherwise. But, now, people just sit down, and hope the other person doesn't notice, or say anything. And even if they do say something, there's really not anything that can be done without airline rules being in place in advance.
And the guidelines are simple. The airlines would not lose a ton of money, but may lose some - but that is way cheaper than a lawsuit. And if someone dies, or it costs someone thousands of dollars, the airlines should be culpable, since they failed to address it, and the person affected had no choice until the plane has already taken off. Not only that, the airlines are the most likely vector to push another pandemic, or even an endemic or epidemic.
The airlines need to completely change, or we'll have another pandemic. There is no situation that can spread respiratory diseases more efficiently than close quarters airline travel. They just need to go back to screening questions (not denying people flying who are ill), but having a group of seats (# needed will become clear over massive cohort - ie 10 seats) in the back, that is partitioned off, where people who are ill (with whatever virus) are required to sit, and wear masks, to avoid spewing respiratory droplets at their neighbors. You could even have two partitions of 5 seats each, and open up one if there aren't many people needing them. You could even do rapid testing pre-flight, and cohort Covid vs non-covid). It wouldn't be perfect (and a negative pressure section would be really costly), but it would be better than what we have now. Just wonton spreading of disease without any consideration for how it may affect other people, like those who are immunosuppressed. I mean for Pete's sake, we go to great lengths to accommodate a few (1/100 wheelchair, 1/10 walker) handicapped folks (as we absolutely should), so why not to go great lengths to accommodate those with immunosuppression, or at high risk for death from respiratory viruses. It' s kind of a disconnect - like stupid are we as humans that we can't see this as a problem, yet we see handicapped access as a problem. It's mind boggling that out of 330 million people, and billions worldwide, that no one seems to see this as a very real problem and risk.
Unfortunately, this may never change until someone passes legislation / regulations, like the FAA, or someone actually sues an airline for their loved one dying from covid or other respiratory illness, or someone can't make their mortgage payment because of lost wages. And just how many deaths and missed mortgage payments are there going to be if we have another pandemic of a different virus?