Southwest to reopen middle seats, calls COVID-19 risk on planes ‘virtually nonexistent’

Southwest Airlines will resume selling all available seats on its flights ahead of the busy holiday travel season.

The Dallas-based airline announced Thursday it will no longer keep middle seats open starting Dec. 1, citing “science-based findings” related to the coroanvirus pandemic.

“We are one of just a few airlines in the world that limits the number of seats available for sale to promote distancing onboard our aircraft, and we will continue to do so through November,” Southwest said in a news release. “This practice of effectively keeping middle seats open bridged us from the early days of the pandemic, when we had little knowledge about the behavior of the virus, to now.”

The decision comes as many states are seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations and many Americans are likely making travel plans for the holidays. Health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious diseases expert, have urged people not to travel for Thanksgiving this year.

Southwest said research from several institutions concluded it is safe to travel on planes.

“The risk of breathing COVID-19 particles on an airplane is virtually non-existent, with the combination of air filtration and face covering requirements,” Southwest said. “The combined studies, research, and counsel we have received, thus far, give us confidence in our approach and timing of this change to the Southwest Promise.”

Researchers concluded in a study commissioned by United Airlines and the U.S. Department of Defense “there is only a 0.003 percent chance particles can pass one passenger to another’s breathing space when sitting beside them while masks are worn,” The Hill reported.

There were 44 known cases of potential in-flight COVID-19 transmission as of Oct. 8 among 1.2 billion passengers worldwide since the beginning of 2020, according to the International Air Transport Association.