Originally Posted by
LonesomeSky
I somewhat agree. Covid fatigue is setting in and many low risk folks are choosing to live their lives again. Most people aren't going to die from covid so why keep your life on hold for months on end?
Here's the problem for our industry. A rather large minority of the population is at risk or lives with someone who is at risk. These people won't travel until covid is gone. It's that simple. Most people don't need to travel by air and will choose not to until the virus is under control. The airlines live on thin margins, 6 to 11%... If we can't get 25-40% of our usual passengers to come to the airport the airlines will continue to bleed cash and be forced to shrink drastically.
There's an attitude amoung many pilots that people's fear of covid is out of control and unrealistic. You guys are looking at it the wrong way. These people aren't in a panic, they're just making rational choices. Most people don't need to travel and traveling puts you far more at risk for catching the rona than staying at home. It's not a panic choice, it's more like, 'nah, I don't wanna go. Seems like a bad idea." Many aren't afraid of dying, they just don't want to get sick and risk being out of work for weeks. Others rely on grandparents for babysitting and don't want to take the chance that they'll accidentally infect grandma. There are a myriad of logical, rational reasons not to travel due to Covid. It's not left wing media brainwashing, it's common sense.
Thank you for one of the more rational explanations of why some people do not want to fly, or travel at all during this pandemic. Count me as one of those. And to dismiss this pandemic as nothing out of the ordinary is foolish. We now have had over 50,000,000 people infected, and over 813,000 deaths. Real numbers are probably higher. I understand pilots whose job depends on folks traveling, but don't browbeat those folks who just want to stay healthy and get back to a normal life. I don't think it is asking too much to wear a mask, social distance, and otherwise follow common sense guidelines. If we fall into another hard lockdown, you can point the finger at those who refuse to follow any science or medical expertise.