Flying on United Airlines from Orlando to New York via Washington.Thomas Pallini/Business Insider
United Airlines is the third largest airline in the US in terms of fleet size and one of the hardest hit because of the pandemic's impact on its lucrative international routes. Asia, Europe, and Australia, which were effectively closed to Americans throughout the crisis, were among United's top international destination regions when the pandemic struck.
As part of the road to its recovery, the airline is opting against blocking middle seats and is instead offering free flight changes for passengers when more than 70% of seats are booked. The airline had initially announced that middle and certain aisle seats would be blocked but a now-viral social media post had revealed otherwise.
Seats won't be blocked from booking and flights will be booked to capacity if demand requires but United won't assign middle seats and certain aisle seats in paired rows until they are the only ones available. It doesn't mean that a passenger won't be assigned a middle seat but it will be a last resort once all other seats are taken.
I flew on United in late June to see how the airline's policies played out in the real world. Flying from Orlando to New York with a connection in Washington, I saw how the airline handled social distancing on its mainline and regional jets.
Here's what I found.
Source: United Airlines
Flying on United, put simply, was boring. Whether or not that's a bad thing is up to each passenger.
Unlike some of its competitors, the airline is choosing to abandon in-flight services on shorter flights under two hours and 20 minutes in favor of an on-request system. This meant limited interactions between the passengers and crew and nothing to really mix up the monotony of flying.
United is also not blocking middle seats for booking and allowing its flights to be filled to capacity, part of which I experienced on this journey. Instead, the airline allows passengers to change their flights for free if their original flight is more than 70% full.
While that may sound good in theory, there are often very few alternatives as the airline is flying fewer flights. I've found it to be an empty gesture during my travels.
United is also following a policy of not assigning middle seats until absolutely necessary. It's ultimately meaningless if a flight fills up but for less crowded flights, like the one I took from Orlando to Washington, it did ensure passengers weren't needlessly assigned middle seats before all of the aisle and windows were filled.
My main takeaway from flying on United is that the airline is trying to make it seem as though it's doing a lot for passengers when it isn't doing much at all compared to its competitors. At least its competitor, American Airlines, is honest about its lack of social distancing policies while United makes it seem like it's doing more than it actually is.
Other than that, however, the seats were clean and flights went off without a hitch, which is a luxury in flying during the pandemic.
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