‘Never felt so unsafe in my life.’ Woman captures packed flight out of Fresno
Video of a packed American Airlines flight from Fresno to Dallas on Sunday is being shared widely online.
“So overcrowded,” says Tammy Gonzalez in a short clip she posted to Twitter, which shows some passengers onboard without face masks.
“Apparently airlines are exempt from CDC guidelines for social distancing,” Gonzalez wrote. “All rows with the exception of maybe 4 rows were completely full of passengers. I’ve never felt so unsafe in my life.”
American Airlines responded to her on Twitter: “We’re working hard to create more space by limiting the number of customers on each flight. We’ll share your feedback with the right team.”
Gonzalez told Storyful that while people had to stay six feet apart before boarding the plane, inside the aircraft “we were packed in like sardines.”
American Airlines told The Bee that 28 seats on that flight were not occupied, and that the aircraft was not at maximum capacity.
“On flights through May 31, American will limit the number of passengers on each aircraft,” American Airlines officials said in a statement. “As part of this limit, American will not assign 50% of main cabin middle seats or seats near flight attendant jump seats on every flight, and will only use those middle seats when necessary. Gate agents will also continue to reassign seats to create more space between customers or to accommodate families who need to be seated together. Once on board – as long as there aren’t any aircraft weight or balance restrictions – customers can move to another seat within their ticketed cabin subject to availability.”
Fresno Yosemite International Airport officials didn’t comment about the flight Gonzalez was on, but said far fewer people than normal have flown to and from the airport over the past couple months.
Airport spokeswoman Vikkie Calderon said passenger traffic in April and from mid-March was down between about 93% and 95% compared to the same time last year – and that the national average is down between 95% and 97%.
“At the beginning of May, FAT passenger traffic was down about 90%, which showed a slight pickup,” Calderon said. “FAT passenger traffic continues to slightly increase and is currently down around 85% compared to the same time last year.”
This story was originally published May 18, 2020 at 12:12 PM with the headline "‘Never felt so unsafe in my life.’ Woman captures packed flight out of Fresno."
