Social distance seating . How many passengers per row of seating?

[TheMiddleSeat]

Southwest is open seating, sit anywhere you want. If you want to spread out, go right ahead. Plus flights are basically empty right now. 

--TheMiddleSeat

[chgoflyer]

When flying does increase, I suspect carriers will block out middle seats to present the appearance of socially distancing, but that's really just one challenge. I find it hard to imagine how to navigate an airport and board a plane while keeping 6 feet from another person.

[dfwskier]

It'll be far more difficult that that chgoflyer. The two aisle seats in a row are within 6 feet. The aisle and window seats in a row are within 6 feet. Every seat on the plane is within 6 feet of both the seats in the row in front of and the row behind behind the seat you are sitting in.

If social distancing remains the rule, it's going to be a real mess.

[chgoflyer]

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@dfwskier wrote:

It'll be far more difficult that that chgoflyer. The two aisle seats in a row are within 6 feet. The aisle and window seats in a row are within 6 feet. Every seat on the plane is within 6 feet of both the seats in the row in front of and the row behind behind the seat you are sitting in.

If social distancing remains the rule, it's going to be a real mess.

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Right. That's why I suspect carriers will present the appearance of socially distancing, while not actually being able to do so.

[tappingmom1]

If masks were required, perhaps the difficulty and impracticality of 6' social distancing on a plane would be a little less critical.

[chgoflyer]

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@tappingmom1 wrote:

If masks were required, perhaps the difficulty and impracticality of 6' social distancing on a plane would be a little less critical.

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I suspect masks will be required everywhere for a while once things start trying to get back to "normal." While they reduce risk, it's important that they be worn properly. I'm not sure most people have the patience needed to travel on a longer flight without ever once removing their mask, or eating or drinking anything on board. 

Things are going to be very challenging for a while.

[jksobonya]

The difficulties of social distancing on a plane are many. Let's hope that, once testing ramps up and the curve flattens, we can go back to our "normal" flying lives!

--Jessica

[davedurfee]

Why can't Southwest answer a simple question?  If the plane is sold out or almost full, will Southwest truly expect people who don't know one another to sit side by side???  It's one thing to say, gosh folks, just spread out.  But I have a flight on Memorial Day.  I'm expecting that there will be passengers for every seat that Southwest has available.  

So... in order to maximize revenue, WILL SOUTHWEST IGNORE SOCIAL DISTANCING AND REQUIRE PASSENGERS TO SIT BESIDE PASSENGERS THAT THEY DON'T KNOW???

[TheMiddleSeat]

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@davedurfee wrote:

But I have a flight on Memorial Day.  I'm expecting that there will be passengers for every seat that Southwest has available.  

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Absolutely no way flights will be sold out over Memorial Day.

There's almost zero demand for flights and no sign of anyone rushing to get back on planes. Having said that, another person in the Community reported asking via private message on either Facebook or Twitter and being told how many seats were sold. That information can change up to 10 minutes before departure though.

To answer your "simple question", IF suddenly people decide it is safe to fly and the flight is full, yes, you would find yourself sitting next to someone. That's NOT going to happen.

--TheMiddleSeat