RDU and Delta airlines reveal safety and cleaning measures to bring back passengers

Flying during the COVID-19 pandemic may never look the same on board. Everything has changed from the cleaning, the services and even certain seats being blocked off.

Travelers compare RDU to a ghost town.

“I assumed it was going to be a little weird, but I thought there would be more people than there is right now,” said Anthony Deaton.

Deaton is among many who are worried about the spread of the virus while traveling.

“You know I’m being exposed to more germs, more people, more things in an airport than I normally would,” said Deaton as he prepared to board his flight.

Months after the pandemic began, RDU officials said things are finally starting to pick back up.

“We had about 40,000 customers for the month of April. For the month of May, we are at about 98,000,” said Mike Landguth, RDU’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

With this shift comes extreme safety measures as soon as customers enter the airport, go through security, check in and board the plane.

“Lots of signage up, again reminding people about social distancing and wearing their face masks and of course we’ve got stanchions set up and sneeze guards,” Landguth added.

Airlines like Delta are beginning to follow suit, rolling out a new cleanliness division. Flight Attendant of 30 years, Erin Eby, says she’s never seen anything like it.

"The wiping down of every surface has been a major confidence builder,” Eby said.

Inside the planes, crews fog the entire cabin with electrostatic disinfectant before and after every flight.

It’s about a 13 minute process. Face masks are mandatory. Middle seats can not be reserved. There’s also a 60% capacity limit.

“It’s been just a big adjustment from the standpoint of going from a lot of passengers to a few," Eby said. "But I thinks that’s a part of the confidence building as well."

Employees are also mandated to self-monitor and temperature check themselves before coming to work. RDU officials hope all of the changes bring a sense of comfort back to flyers.