We’re being told, for good reason, to partake in “social distancing,” making sure we’re not in enclosed spaces with a lot of people close to us in order to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.
WTMJ contributor Anne E. Schwartz experienced that in a powerful way Friday morning as she flew from Milwaukee to New York City.
Based on her picture, at least 72 seats of her Southwest Airlines plane were empty in this picture.
“There were about 30 people in the seats ahead of me. I took the last row of people,” she told WTMJ’s Steve Scaffidi on Friday morning.
Of course, Southwest has a very friendly refund policy for its patrons, so it was probably easy for those who would have been on the plane to switch their flights.
“I thought they were going to make me an individual cappuccino. They were so excited to see me.”
When she arrived in New York as well, she saw a city that wasn’t necessarily a ghost town, but much quieter than its normal bustling self.
“It’s really quite eerie. The city is really quiet. You don’t see a ton of foot traffic,” she said.
LaGuardia Airport just outside Manhattan gave a similar experience.
“LaGuardia was really quiet. It was like being at church,” Anne said.
“It reminds me of what it was like to fly after 9/11 when they allowed planes to take off.”