Should Airlines Block Middle Seats During Pandemic? (DEBUNKING Airline Talking Points)

In effort to promote social distancing during the pandemic, many US-based airlines began blocking middle seats. But all that is about to change. As of July 2020, most major US-based airlines (with the exception of Delta, Southwest, JetBlue, and Hawaiian) are no longer blocking middle seats on flights—if they can, they will sell out a flight to capacity.

Some airlines like American Airlines are citing financial reasons. Others like United Airlines say that it's not actually safer for passengers to block the middle seat. Are those claims true? On the flip side, Delta Airlines and a few others are continuing with the policy of blocking middle seats, at least until September, citing customers' safety concerns. But is there more than meets the eye?

In this segment, James exams the debate of whether airlines should block middle seats and debunks all the airline talking points on both sides.

51/49 with James Li - Commentary on business, politics, and the other things (from an independent perspective)

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