DeSantis says air travel is safe from COVID-19, but expert warns of danger in airports

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday declared air travel safe and said that COVID-19-related travel restrictions from Europe and Brazil should be lifted.

During a discussion with airline and rental car executives at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, DeSantis said that evidence shows planes are not vectors for the airborne disease.

“You have just not seen airlines lead to outbreaks,” DeSantis said, “and people should understand that.”

DeSantis said he was trying to ease people’s fears about flying, which have caused millions to stop flying into Florida, crushing its tourism-dependent economy. From March through June, the number of people flying into the state fell by nearly two-thirds compared to the year before, from more than 24 million passengers to 8.8 million, DeSantis said.

Although he’s previously blamed flights for bringing COVID-19 into the state, he said Friday that the “track record” shows that fears of flying itself are unfounded. He did not cite any studies or statistics to support his claim, and his office did not produce any when asked by the Herald/Times.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that air travel does increase a person’s risk of getting COVID-19 because of time in security lines and airport terminals.

But since March, many studies have concluded that flying itself is a relatively low-risk activity, as long as stringent safety measures such as spacing and masking are followed while on the plane.

Those studies are largely contained to studying transmission inside the flight vessel itself, where air is typically refreshed every two to four minutes, a much higher rate than hospitals or office buildings.

Michael Mina, an infectious disease expert at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said airports themselves are the concern.

“My biggest concern this whole time has been more in the airports,” he said during a conference call with reporters on Friday. “It is possible to get pretty high air flow and air exchange in planes.”

Pedestrian traffic in airports, on the other hand, can funnel people through hallways, jetways, and metal detectors, Mina said, and the coronavirus is known to be capable of lingering in the air.

“I think it’s a dangerous place to be, and I personally make the decision not to travel,” Mina said.

He added that the risk was comparable to other indoor and semi-crowded areas such as dining inside a restaurant, places where Florida still imposes occupancy restrictions. Bars are not allowed to open.

During Friday’s event, DeSantis pointed to airlines’ air circulation, cleaning habits and spacing on board as reasons why air travel was safe.

“Obviously they do space people out,” he said.

While Delta, JetBlue and Southwest Airlines keep middle seats vacant, American Airlines and Miramar-based Spirit Airlines do not. Spirit’s chief operating officer, John Bendoraitis, was sitting across the table from DeSantis Friday but did not correct him.

Bendoraitis said Spirit has seen “zero outbreaks” of the virus aboard its planes, adding that they are a “super-safe environment.” An airport executive with JetBlue also said the airline has seen “no confirmed outbreaks.”

DeSantis claimed in March that New York’s stay-at-home order caused sick New Yorkers to fly to Florida. Claiming that “every single flight has somebody on it who is positive for COVID-19,” he required New Yorkers to quarantine for 14 days, a restriction he lifted earlier this month.

DeSantis said he also believes federal bans on travel from Europe and Brazil should be lifted now.

“I think that’s served its purpose,” he said of the European ban. “I don’t know that those restrictions need to be in place anymore. And the same thing with Brazil.”

Miami Herald staff writer Taylor Dolven contributed to this report.

This story was originally published August 28, 2020 at 4:38 PM.