March 25, 2021 | Kendall Creighton For over a year we’ve been told to socially distance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged us to keep at least six feet away from others while indoors and outdoors. How to Socially Distance on a Plane? Airlines like to claim the cabin air is clean, despite no social distancing and sardine seating, because of HEPA filtration systems. But not all aircraft have HEPA filters. The fact is, middle-seat-blocking substantially increases passenger safety from COVID, studies show. Dr. Anthony Fauci and former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield both criticized airlines for placing passengers in middle seats. FlyersRights is proposing a sweeping new plan that caps passenger load factors at 50% or 65%, with the federal government purchasing 15% to 30% of tickets to keep those seats empty. This plan guarantees that airlines operate at a profitable 80% load factor while increasing the health and safety of flights by keeping middle seats or half of all seats empty. In exchange, the federal government would receive a percentage of this investment back in the form of future tickets or travel credit for government employees when airlines return to their typical profitability. Read our full Social Distancing Plan for airlines HERE Boeing 737 MAX Crash Anniversary On March 10th, the second anniversary of the crash of Boeing 737 MAX in Ethiopia killing all 157 aboard, FlyersRights attended a memorial at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) headquarters in Washington, D.C. The message was that the crash was caused by Boeing’s criminal actions and collusion with FAA management. Earlier in the day, the parents of Samya Stumo, who died in the crash, met with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and told him at least four FAA managers must be replaced – FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, FAA Aircraft Certification Service Executive Director Earl Lawrence, FAA Policy & Innovation Division Director of Aircraft Certification Service Michael Romanowski, and FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Ali Bahrami. Later in the day, families and friends of those who lost loved ones in the Boeing tragedy attended a memorial vigil in front of the FAA. The lantern vigil included the names of each of the 157 people who died in the Boeing crash in Ethiopia written on the white lit containers. Friends and family of the victims held photos of passengers who died in that preventable crash and wore masks reading Axe the Max. Discovery continues with millions of pages of documents being reviewed and depositions of many parties being taken, including top Boeing executives. Families have been insisting on a full recertification, examining all systems of the latest 737 that has not been recertified for more than 50 years and that has undergone numerous changes including placing the newly sized engines further forward on the wings. The first Boeing MAX plane crashed into the Java Sea about nine minutes after taking off from Indonesia on October 29, 2018, killing all 189 on board. The plane was not grounded worldwide until 157 more lives were lost when a second 737 MAX crashed about six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, headed for Kenya. The FlyersRights® Insider Vol. 55 This month’s travel-related information tips and suggestions for our readers and members: 1. Opting out of Facial-Recognition at the Airport https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-to-opt-out-of-facial-recognition-at-the-airport 2. All Travelers to the USA will need to have a negative COVID Test https://www.afar.com/magazine/all-travelers-to-us-will-need-to-have-negative-covid-test 3. Travel Friendly Wardrobe Staples https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2016-01-13/the-best-travel-friendly-wardrobe-staples The above articles can be viewed by clicking on the link. For more in-depth and up-to-date information on these items, please refer to the source. If any of our readers have any ideas for input, please feel free to send them to FlyersRights!