Sky-High Adventures in Social Distancing

I had the recent privilege of seeing the post-COVID situation at the local airports thanks to the ex asking our sons to fly out to New Jersey to spend a week with him. It all began innocently enough, I was sitting in my living room, Netflix was on, and I was reading a book on my Kindle. When my eldest son comes out from his room and tells me that he has received a text from his dad asking if they wanted to come out and visit him.  

Apparently the ex was going to take some time off work if they came out to spend time with him. They were okay with going, and really that was all I cared about. If they were even a little hesitant, I wasn’t going to push them to go. They told me when he was planning to have them go, and as long as my youngest took his laptop with him to continue his classes while at his father’s house, I had no issue with the dates.  

The point of sharing that bit was to compare it to what happened an hour later. He sends me a text message telling me that he was planning on having the kids out to visit him in September. Lo and behold I was like, oh yeah, that’s fine. And he was shocked that I already knew. He was like did the kids tell you already? Of course they did. They brought it to my attention as soon as he texted, and I have no issue with hit.  

From his reaction to that piece of information I can only guess that he expected to catch me off guard in order to piss me off, or wind me up and instigate an argument. Ha!

Clearly he doesn’t realize that I have something he will never have: a trusting relationship with my children. Why wouldn’t they tell me something like this? We discuss most things, and they would have no reason to keep a secret from me. I was inwardly satisfied at having sabotaged his intended attack.  

The day of their trip, we left for the airport extra early. The butt crack of dawn in fact. One of the changes I noticed before we even left the house: the amount of time required to be at the airport before boarding.

Domestic flights used to have only an hour required before the boarding time. Now the requirement for American Airlines is 2 hours. The 2+ hours before used to be for international flights only.  

I expected the airport to be jammed packed. I remembered the news reports from the early days of COVID at the long lines throughout he security checkpoints, the overexposure to other people despite the need for space and reduced exposure. It was a nightmare of pandemic proportions.

I wasn’t expecting the same level of madness, but I did expect there to be a lot of checkpoints and regulation for social distancing and such.  

The place was a ghost town when we arrived in the early hours of the morning. It was not quite 6am. Their flight left at 9, but boarding started at 8am so we had to be there extra early. Since we needed to check their bags, we had to walk to the other end of the terminal to a different security gate which allowed for checked baggage. The one at the other end was for carry on luggage only.

I was surprised by how vacant the terminal was, but that was probably due to the time of day more than anything else. In any case, we had flown out that early before COVID and the airport had been packed, lines wrapped around and around.  

My eldest son stresses out with airport travel, only because of the checkpoints, the security checks, all the questions. Other kind of travel does not bother him so much. Therefore we tried to prepare him and pack his luggage in such a way to make his experience a little easier.  

Once we checked their bags, which went much quicker than expected, we walked to the TSA security check. There were many self-serve kiosks and plenty of personnel manning the counters. We were helped right away and got their bags taken care of, especially after my gaffe online where I only managed to pre-check one of their bags, and not both.

Despite the long roped queue, there were probably ten people in line total. Since 9/11 non-passengers can go no further than the security gate without a boarding pass. So I watch from the fenced area as they wind around their way to the TSA agent. I did notice they seemed to have streamlined the whole waiting for the next agent process.  

They had set up a sort of turnstile to hold people back and maintain the social distancing and allow for only one person to proceed to the available agent. That agent had a station with plexiglass separating them from the potential passenger. One thing that was unexpected was the requirement to remove one’s mask from one’s face so the agent could compare your face to your identification.

The same thing happened at the check-in counter where they checked their bags for the flight. Necessary step for the situation and my sons took it in stride.  The airline attendant was especially helpful providing tips to make the process go smoother.

Next came their experience going through the metal detector, then the full body scanner. I watched and from what I could see it seemed that everyone went through the scanner, no exceptions. Then they retrieved their bags from the X-ray tables, put their shoes back on, and then off to their gate they went.  

My youngest son took most of his video/camera equipment with him, along with his laptop for school. He had plans to work on a project at his father’s house and would have to shoot some footage while he was there.

I expected all these electronics to throw a wrench in their progress. However, it appears that DFW doesn’t care much because my son said they didn’t make him take them out from the bag after the x-ray station to turn them on, as I expected.

He said they didn’t do even that until he was going through the checkpoints again for the return trip at the airport in Philadelphia (PHL). Then all they made him do was take them out of his bag and place them in the container before putting them through the machine. What a time to be alive!  

I made my way out of the terminal and noted all the sanitation stations, the extra precautions for the employee entrances. There were fewer avenues of egress. I still had a low-key sensation that there was something in the air that could get me. I certainly would not feel comfortable imbibing liquids or eating a meal in this environment. I can’t overcome my paranoia that quickly.  

As I exited to the street I noted that they had made one of the escalator entrances only, and then further down was the one for the exit out of the terminal to the lower levels to get to the parking garage.  

Overall, the experience at the airport was much smoother than I expected, and from what my sons tell me, way faster than what they recall. I remember when they were flying out to Japan three years ago, it took them almost two hours to make it just through the security checkpoint, and that was before they had to wait to board their plane.  

During Spring Break in 2019, the last time my eldest went to visit his father, it took over 30 minutes to make it through the checkpoint and I waited on the sidelines until I could see him no longer as he walked off toward the gate.  

I went to the airport with them dressed for work expecting massive delays, but it turned out to be pointless.  I had planned to leave for work directly from the airport, and the whole process was so brief, that I would have been 2 hours early for work instead of just an hour early like I had intended.  

On the return trip, I was running behind schedule to pick them up from the airport and the plane was arriving early. My fuckup meant that I was flying like the wind down the highway to be there on time. I had counted on their delay at the baggage claim.

Once again, the experience of the past proved false, they were off the plane and done with baggage claim in under 10 minutes. Amazing.  

Seems like once again, COVID has proved to be the equalizer of tedious processes. The airport seems to have worked out whatever kinks slowed down their checking of passengers on the way to their gates, in order to maintain social distancing and reduce wait times — the extended exposure of passengers and airport employees.  

From what I have seen, at least at the AA terminal at DFW, they seem to be doing something right. I am guessing not so many people are traveling anymore like they were before, so perhaps that also plays a role in the changes I observed, so I wonder how this will play out long-term as the world adapts to operating in the post-COVID era.