The People Flying During The Pandemic And How Airlines Are Trying To Protect Them

In recent years, airlines have been cramming more seats onto planes and squishing passengers ever closer to one another. The entire airport experience isn't much better, with overcrowded eateries and book shops, as well as tightly packed lines of people queuing up at check-in counters, security checkpoints and on the jet-bridge for boarding.

But that's not the case anymore.

"Airports are empty. The flights are empty," said physician Frank Garcini after stepping off a recent flight from Phoenix at Chicago's O'Hare airport.

"I was traveling on a small airplane with probably 40-something seats and there were only six passengers on the flight," he said.

"I think life as we know it has changed" because of the coronavirus, Garcini said, adding that airlines will need to adapt. "I anticipate that the standard operating procedures in the future