American Airlines has announced it will run its flights at full capacity starting July 1. In the past few months American and most other airlines have blocked off all or some of the middle seats in Economy but that will stop on Wednesday. “As more people continue to travel, customers may notice that flights are booked to capacity starting July 1,” the airline said in its note to customers. Those who are not nostalgic for the pre-COVID travel norms can move to less crowded flights if they are available and don’t cost more.
To combat the virus, American is requiring passengers to wear masks and lobbying airports to do the same. It’s also going to start making passengers certify that they haven’t had COVID-19 symptoms in the 14 days prior to their flight before letting them board. Bookings are up substantially in recent weeks but all airlines are running drastically reduced schedules so load factors have risen substantially.
