Tips for Flying Safely During the Pandemic
While the COVID pandemic has completely disrupted most people’s lives this year, and many borders are shut, there is still travel happening. I want to be clear that I AM IN NO WAY ADVOCATING FOR PEOPLE TO TRAVEL RIGHT NOW. However, some of us have to travel for various reasons and some people may choose to despite the current conditions. I put together my best tips for flying safely during the pandemic to try and help anyone who needs to travel at this time.
Our family had to travel to get back home. We left Tbilisi (our home) in March when things were very uncertain and taking a turn for the worst. We went to Texas and stayed there until August once we were comfortable and able to return to Georgia.
Please check CDC guidelines and government websites about travel restrictions, requirements upon entering your destination, and proper precautions before your travel. This is not medical advice but anecdotal advice and you should always consult your doctor and official sources for the latest information.
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Masks
Most airlines are requiring masks for all passengers by now. Children are somewhat exempt from this depending on airline and age. Check your airline’s specific requirements about what ages are required to wear masks. Children under 2 are not advised to wear masks as per the CDC.
Masks should be worn covering the nose and mouth and should not be pulled down in order to talk to someone.
We flew Delta for part of our journey, and while they say they are enforcing a mask policy, there was a boy about 10 years old sitting directly behind my son who wore his mask for maybe 5 minutes of a 3-hour flight. Multiple flight attendants walked by him throughout the flight and never said a word. I don’t know his particular circumstances, but I saw nothing that led me to believe he would have difficulty keeping it on. I saw his mother remind him to put it back on once.
I write this so you can be prepared. It was honestly very upsetting and frustrating for me to watch, particularly because he happened to be sitting behind my son who has a history of respiratory issues. I was hoping that Delta’s cabin crew would ask the boy to keep his mask on but they never said anything. Knowing this, if you are flying in the U.S., you may be placed in a similar situation and you may want to consider taking the extra precaution of a face shield. I was glad we did.
We will all wore cloth masks on our flights as opposed to disposable. My children wore masks from Gap Kids and they never complained about their ears hurting. I wore a mask from Rothy’s and I thought it was very comfortable.
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My husband wore a homemade mask and really struggled with the elastic hurting his ears. It’s crucial to find a comfortable mask before flying for a long duration so you don’t suffer in pain.
I traveled with multiple masks for each person in the event that someone wanted or needed to change theirs. Worn/dirty masks went into their own Ziplock bag to separate them and keep germs off of anything else.
Another idea is to wear a disposable mask and change between each leg of your trip. One mom who has done multiple transatlantic trips during the coronavirus pandemic advised this. She said you can start to feel a little gross after being in the same cloth mask for so many hours.
If your children are not used to wearing masks, practice at home in the days leading up to your flight. I had mine wear masks while watching movies and rewarded them for leaving them on the whole time. Other moms have suggested letting the kids wear them to play doctor. Your child’s first time in a mask should not be at the airport, make sure they get used to it before then.
Mask Comfort Tip: Bring cotton balls to place in between your ears and the elastic loops of a mask.
Face Shields
Face shields add another layer of protection but do not take the place of a mask. You should be wearing a mask even with the face shield. Face shields come in different forms and some are even designed specifically for children.
You may feel silly wearing it, but feeling silly is worth the peace of mind and worth the prevention of contracting the coronavirus. One good thing about them is you can wipe them down with a sanitizing wipe to keep them clean.
I will be honest that we were very much in the minority wearing face shields traveling in the U.S. and Europe. I was questioning how necessary it was but I had a few nurses message me encouraging me to wear them and reassuring me that it was a good protective measure to take.
I was very happy we had the shields as soon as we stepped on the airplane. Even with blocking middle seat purchases, there is just no way to get around being close to people on an airplane. For my peace of mind, particularly when traveling with a child at elevated risk, it was worth looking a little silly.
My 5 and 7 year old did amazing with the face shields. I was amazed that they never really complained about them. As long as they were watching a movie or playing a game on the iPad or movie screen on seat in front of them-they were find. They came off a little when the kids fell asleep just from the way they were moving and positioning themselves. We also removed them to eat, but other than that we had them on the whole time.
Here are some different styles of face shields:
This is the type I bought for my kids. They came in a pack of 5 which was nice because we had some extras. The extras came in handy when my son ruined one during a practice run at home. I also had 2 extras in case my husband or I didn’t like the glasses version.
This is a glasses style that I bought for my husband and I. I mainly bought these because they are a little more low profile. We both thought they were comfortable and didn’t have any problems wearing them on our long flight home.
Here’s some fun face shields that are good for kids and might entice the kids to keep them on. There’s also lots of different designs to choose from.
There are also hat styles that might be easier for some kids to wear.
It’s also a good idea to have your kids try these out beforehand so they can get used to them.
Kid Tip: You can let your kids decorate their face shields with stickers or adhesive gems. Keep the embellishments toward the edges so they can still see clearly through the shield. I wouldn’t recommend using markers on face shields because if you use a sanitizing wipe to clean it, it may wipe the marker off and you may end up with it all over your hands.
Hand Sanitizer and Sanitizing Wipes
Keeping our hands clean is one of the best ways we can prevent the spread of the virus. Make sure each parent (or each kid if they are old enough) has sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer in their carry-on. This is especially important for bigger families who may not all be sitting together.
Before we got to the airport we discussed the importance of not touching rails, elevator buttons, counters, etc. Kids are kids and they will still touch things. We were even more strict about telling them to stop and about putting hand sanitizer on them after they touched something.
We made sure to wipe down each seat, tray table, armrest, seat belt, window, and the walls where we sat with a sanitizing wipe. It is really hard to keep the kids out of the seats or from touching anything while you do this because you will have a line of people behind you. So let the kids sit down and tell them not to touch anything (they will). Wipe down the airplane seats as best as you can and then sanitize everyone’s hands.
Make sure to reapply hand sanitizer if you notice them touching anything excessively, after going through security, before eating, after the bathroom, after playing with a tablet, etc.
Kid Safety Tip: Tell your kids to keep their hands on their thighs when they walk down the airplane aisle during boarding or while walking to the lavatory. This will help them from touching things.
Leave Your Air Vent On
I have read several news articles that recommend keeping your air vent on during the flight. Airplane air is actually very filtered and recirculated with outside air continuously. But another way you can keep yourself protected is by keeping the vent on to create a type of air barrier. The vent will help blow virus particles away from your face and also continuously provide filtered air to breathe.
Plan for this extra bit of cool air by remembering to wear or bring additional layers.
Traveling with Babies and Toddlers During the Pandemic
As stated above, children under 2 are not advised to wear masks. One of the best ways to keep your baby safe is to keep his/her hands clean. Wash their hands with yours anytime you do a diaper change. Sanitize the surrounding seat area and pay attention to what they are touching. Frequently sanitize their hands, especially at this age when they tend to put their hands in their mouths a lot.
The safest way for your baby to travel is in a car seat on the airplane. This is the safest for them in turbulence or in an emergency landing but also it keeps them a little more contained and prevents them from grabbing onto everything. Toddlers will want to get out and move. This isn’t the best time for walking up and down the aisles or for playing on the floor. Keep your baby in their seat as much as you can.
Try to pick a window seat for your baby. That will give them the most amount of space between other passengers. Some airlines are blocking middle seat purchases for the time being. Delta was blocking middle seats and my son and I had a row of 3 to ourselves on our Delta legs On our Georgian Airways flight we were seated with another passenger. That flight was just about full.
You may want to travel with disposable changing pads to keep a clean layer between your baby and the public changing tables. You could also wipe the changing area down with a cleaning wipe. Bring gallon-sized ziplock bags to hold any dirty clothes you change your baby out of. The plastic bag will keep germs off the rest of the items in your diaper bag.
Baby Safety Tip: Ditch the soft toys. Only bring toys that can easily be wiped off with a sanitizing wipe when the baby inevitably drops them on the floor. This is the only toy I brought for my 18-month-old.
Snacks and Food
Food and drink service has been paired down on many airlines, so you can expect some changes from pre-pandemic flying. For this reason, you may consider bringing more snacks than you normally would.
It sounds like the food served varies quite a bit depending on the airline and route. If you are flying domestically within the US, the best you can hope for is a pre-packaged snack. If you are flying international on a long-haul flight you may get hot meals or you may get only sandwiches.
We were happy with the food service on our Delta flights. On our domestic leg, we were given snack bags with a snack and water. On our international leg, we were given a hot meal for dinner and a hot cinnamon roll for breakfast. We found it more than adequate along with some of the snacks I had packed. On our Georgian Airways flight from Amsterdam to Tbilisi, we weren’t given anything.
Experiences will continue to be extremely varied
We noticed differences between airlines and each country we stopped in on our journey. I also received messages from other travelers with very different experiences. One woman told me on her Qatar Airways flight, each passenger was given a mask and face shield. Whereas in Amsterdam Schipol Airport masks aren’t even required, except for during boarding. Our flight attendants on the Georgian Airways flight were in full PPE suits.
Shockingly, Americans seemed to be the best with mask-wearing and wearing masks properly. We saw many more people not in masks in Amsterdam (to be fair, it isn’t required there and their numbers are way different than the U.S.) and many more people on our Georgian Airways flight with masks down below noses and chins.
All this to say, you really need to check on your specific destination, layover stops, on your airline’s website to get an idea of what to expect. I recommend asking for recent experiences in a travel group on Facebook to get current anecdotal information as well. Here is a group I like.
If you have experiences to add, please do so in the comments! I’m sure it would help others to read more accounts of travel right now. Also, if you have any questions or things you would like me to elaborate on-let me know! I really hope that this is helpful and again, don’t forget to check official CDC and government websites for the most up to date and official information. Be safe!
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