Ed Bastian
Delta CEO Ed Bastian
Steve Marcus/Reuters
  • A tweet posted to Delta’s main account, which read “A haunted house, but they’re not blocking middle seats,” appeared to call out competitor airlines for their COVID-19 safety precautions.
  • Delta is the only major US airline that has continued to block middle seats to lessen the risk of spreading COVID-19 onboard. 
  • Epidemiologists have said sitting too close together on air planes increases the risk of contracting COVID-19 from a nearby passenger.
  • Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on a recent earnings call the airline would stop blocking middle seats in early 2021.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Delta just shamed other carriers for refusing to block middle seats during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A tweet posted to the carrier’s main Twitter account read, “A haunted house, but they’re not blocking middle seats.” Delta is currently the only major US airline blocking middle seats as a COVID-19 safety precaution. 

 

American, United, JetBlue, Frontier, Allegiant, Spirit, and Sun Country have stopped blocking middle seats, and Southwest announced it would do so ahead of the holidays beginning December 1.

Read more: American, Delta, Southwest, and United say more people are starting to book travel, but that good news may not last

Despite the relaxed rules blocking middle seats on airplanes, the risk of contracting the novel virus remains high as the US entered its 3rd wave of cases this month. The number of new cases have gone up in 41 states, and the US is seeing an average of more than 50,000 new cases per day.

Epidemiologists say sitting too close together on air planes increases the risk of contracting COVID-19 from a nearby passenger. "The main risk is people in the rows [and seats] around you," Salvatore Pardo, MD, the chair of emergency medicine Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital, told Business Insider's Tom Pallini. 

As they await a second bailout from the government, airlines have continued to report losses and lay off workers.

Read more: United's CEO argued it's not a problem that airlines will keep burning tens of millions of cash per day for months

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on a recent earnings call the airline would stop blocking middle seats in early 2021 if "consumer sentiment and confidence in air travel" regain.

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