MDS: Flying with the Flu

My friend/colleague Charlie Leocha just posted a piece on the blog ConsumerTraveler.com noting that

• In a poll completed last week by the Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA), almost 73 percent of passengers said they would fly even if they had the flu. More than half of those would fly because either change fees were too high or it was "to late" to make changes vacation plans.

It goes on to say

• This is not the only survey that shows passengers will fly with the flu — another survey of thousands of travelers conducted by TripAdvisor showed that more than half of passengers would fly with the flu. [Based on 2,327 responders.]

You can read the entire blog here.

Okay—CTA is an organization that Charlie helped organize and to operate. So, he’s not citing some outside authority. And, his blog entry doesn’t say how many people responded to the CTA survey.

Still, this is scary.

As if I’m not paranoid enough about riding on airplanes (got back-to-back long haul trips planned for the first half of January), now this has been added to my menu of fears.

Charlie faults the airlines for not mitigating things with easier re-booking rules and penalty fees.

Good enough, as far as that goes. I’m no fan of the airlines.

But, what about the people themselves? Don’t we owe it to others to confine ourselves when we’re sick? Where’s the sense of responsibility?

Guess I’ll get me one of those medical isolation bubbles to use while in flight. (Remember "Bubble Boy" from Seinfeld?)

That’ll show ‘em.