Packed United flight leaves passengers 'scared,' 'shocked' amid fears of the coronavirus - united photo.jpg

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A photo of a crowded flight posted on Twitter by a cardiologist returning from
the New York City area may hint at the difficulties of social distancing as air
travel picks up again.

Dr. Ethan Weiss tweeted a photo Saturday showing what appears to be a full
United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco. Though
passengers are wearing masks, he said the crowded cabin runs counter to United's
assurances that it would leave middle seats empty in order to promote social
distancing to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"I guess @united is relaxing their social distancing policy these days? Every
seat full on this 737," tweeted Weiss along with the photo. He is both a
physician and a scientist at the University of California San Francisco who had
been in New York working to aid with the coronavirus crisis.

In a separate tweet, Weiss included a statement from United's chief customer
officer, sent to all passengers, saying, "We're automatically blocking middle
seats to give you enough space on board."


He said in a tweet he was among the medical workers who had been flown to New
York for free by United to help care for the flood of patients due to the
pandemic. He added that "people on this plane are scared/shocked."

Weiss told USA TODAY he had no further comment beyond his tweets.

Reached for response, a United spokeswoman said the airline has taken steps to
address the coronavirus.



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