♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, the pandemic changing planes and how we fly forever. now new rules and regulations. are soaring ticket prices the only way out of this crisis for the airlines? plus, cabin pressure. extra stress for flight attendants. first responders in the sky. >> our service is a little different now but it's helping us protect our customers better. >> "nightline." bringing america back. starts right now with byron pitts. good evening. thank you for joining us. one of the biggest economic casualties of the covid-19 kras crisis, the airline industry. when america and the world shut down, thousands of planes ground to a halt. tonight, charting the path for

airlines trying to take flight again with close quarters, tight margins and the invisible virus. here's abc's gio benitez. >> it's been probably over a month since i've been out flying just due to all the cancellations last minute that have happened. definitely packing a little different than i normally do. three decades of this and this is the first time i'm picking things like masks and extra wipes and hand sanitizer. >> reporter: it's captain dennis tager's first day on the job since march. >> pretty empty no doubt. >> reporter: he's traveling from chicago to miami then landing in houston, documenting his trip on the way. >> a little bit harder to find food than i thought. >> reporter: giving us a firsthand account of his new reality. >> in your 30-plus years have you ever seen anything affect the industry quite like covid-19? >> not this long and deep. i flew 9/11 and the after in new york. that was a shock on many levels and horror on a level i don't

think any of us ever imagined. this is a different shock to us. it's invisible. >> reporter: over the past two months striking scenes from vacant airports across the country. no long passenger lines, eerily empty flights, and row after row of grounded planes. the number of people flying in the u.s. is down 94% from last year. the three largest u.s. airlines reporting more than $4 billion in losses from january to march. tonight bringing america back as the country looks for a way forward. what will it take for the travel industry to take off again? >> i have never seen this airport this empty. >> reporter: here at new york's laguardia airport late last week not nearly as frantic as usual. but still people with places to go like lauren king from atlanta. this was your first flight during the pandemic? >> it was odd o'say the least. everybody covered up. no snacks, no drinks, everything

wiped downish handed to you. >> reporter: were you nervous at all on the plane? >> i wasn't nerve at all on the first plane. but on the second plane, i did take out some of my lysol wipes and do a little extra cleanup and everything p 7. >> reporter: cameron kocher says he feels comfortable flying because he recently tested positive for covid-19 antibodies after getting sick in late february. >> you know if you haven't had this yet i don't know. i don't know if i'd be traveling right now if i didn't know i had it. probably not honestly. >> reporter: kevin dafrs is in the army reserves traveling to ohio where he'll undergo covid-19 training to then help at new york city hospitals. are you nervous at all about traveling? >> i mean, i'm not nervous because i mean, if you're practicing the washing of the hands, the wearing of the max you'll be safe. i do have three masks in my bag. >> reporter: kevin and cameron were surprised to see their planes were not empty. partly because airlines have reduced the number of flights making the remaining ones a bit

full. >> pretty full flight. >> arriving in charlotte. i'm going to head to the gate now so we can board the next plane. >> landed in charlotte. super easy flight. nothing out of the normal other than no snacks. everyone's wearing masks. airports moderately crowded. good to be back in north carolina. >> reporter: passengers should expect airline travel to be a very different experience for the foreseeable future. starting this month most airlines are requiring face coverings for all passengers. some airlines also blocking? or all middle seats. united airlines spokesperson and former obama white house press secretary josh ernest says the company changed how seats are assigned. >> we use artificial intelligence actually to seat the aircraft and we've changed the algorithm to actually ensure that we can socially distance to the best -- to the largest extent possible on board the aircraft. >> reporter: earnest says united

has also adochted enhanced cleaning procedures. >> we recently purchased 750 electric o'static sprayers. these are the machines they use to clean hospitals and disinfectants. and we're going to use them before every sing many flight starting next month. >> if passengers don'ts feel comfortable, what should they do? >> one of the things we've done, gio, is actually given our customers a lot of flexibility. if there are reasons people feel uncomfortable or their plans have changed they are able to change their travel plans without paying a fee. >> reporter: new ways of making air travel safe are emerging. a regional airport in washington state is now using thermal cameras to test passengers for fever before they go through the tsa checkpoint. airlines then determine whether or not anyone flagged can fly. >> you canceled about 90% of flights. how can the airlines survive? >> this is the biggest financial crisis the commercial industry has ever faced. we reduced our schedule to try to make sure that when demand does start to bounce back that united airlines can bounce back

quickly to meet that demand. >> reporter: despite outrage from critics who felt airlines were mismanaged long before this pandemic, the white house agreed to a $25 xwl billion bailout for the midge u.s. airlines comprised of grants and loans but some are still seeking billions more in federal loans to survive. is the government funding going to be enough? >> the assistance we received from the federal government was basically intended to cover our labor costs, our payroll expenses in the next six months and the truth is it only covers part of those labor costs in the next six months even including amounts we're expected to pay back to the federal government. >> every airline flying today is flying on taxpayer dollars. government funding for airlines will run out by the end of september. >> reporter: airlines are trying to keep costs down but still gearing up. the maintenance must be current so the planes can fly as soon as they're needed. at washington dulles international airport maintenance employees like travis ali are working around

the clock. >> this time last year every airplane that came in was going out. we weren't storing airplanes this time last year. >> reporter: allee says the stored plains require 24/7 upkeep to ensure they're ready for travel when the time comes. >> some of the things we do is run the air-conditioning system and that is to evacuate humidity and moisture out of the cabin so we don't have an aircraft sitting for a week up to a month with moisture building up inside the cabin and the avionics equipment. it's not at all like parking your car. an aircraft has a lot more components to it than your standard automobile does. >> reporter: in a way to try to recruit customers some airlines are now carrying cargo where passengers would normally sit. but some of the safety measures airlines are adopting may end up costing them money. >> when an airplane takes off it has to have at least 80% of the airplane seats filled or it's not going to make any money. but you can't fill an airplane up to 80% and still keep the center seat open, which would

allow for social distancing. so at this point if we're going to maintain social distancing there's no way that airline and that airplane can fly profitably. >> reporter: and now with so many asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic coronavirus cases questions about whether air travel may have helped spread covid-19 in the early part of this year. >> there are certain individuals that are considered super spreaders that can efficiently spread to many people while some people may not at all. and absolutely there are people that are awalking around as vectors of disease and don't even realize they have the infection at all and may never even know. >> reporter: an abc news investigation of travel data from december, january and february found nearly 760,000 passengers came to the u.s. infrom china while more than 2.5 million travelers from hot spots like italy, spant and britain poured in. >> air travel is not only a vector to move it from place to

place but in itself is a place where transmission can occur. you're in incredibly close quarters with individuals, you're definitely not practicing social distancing at six feet apart. >> reporter: the u.s. now has travel restrictions for travel, iran, and most of europe and north america. but there's currently no limit on domestic travel. there are still questions about how to treat covid-19 and no national testing program or vacci vaccine. which is why experts say air travel is changing dramatically. >> travel is not going to get easier. it's going to get harder and it's going to stay harder. the future of air travel looks very bleak. what we knew just a few months ago is all going to change in the months to come. and we may not see a return to normal for years. >> what do you say to someone who's concerned and on the fence about flying again? >> i don't dismiss it at all. it's okay to have that concern. it's okay to have that anxious feeling about it. that's natural. >> reporter: for captain tager there's no easy path to getting the planes full again.

>> if we don't get this right now and we're reckless, if we don't lean forward we're going to fall flat on our face in recovery, and i don't want to see that happen. >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm gio benitez in new york. >> our thanks to gio. next, cabin pressure. extra stress and risk for flight attendants. first responders in the sky. i thought i had my moderate to severe ulcerative colitis... ...under control. turns out, it was controlling me. seemed like my symptoms were... ...taking over our time together. think he'll make it? so i talked to my doctor and learned humira can help get and keep uc... ... under control when other medications haven't worked well enough. "dad!" "hey!" and it helps people achieve control that lasts. so you can experience few or no symptoms. humira can... ...lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened,... ...as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions,... ...and new or worsening heart failure.

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they are the first responders in the sky. flight attendants, always responsible for passenger safety. and now during the pandemic, trying to navigate social distancing in close quarters. >> my name is micah. i'm a flight attendant for delta airlines. >> reporter: for micah kennedy, who recently celebrated his one-year anniversary flying. >> i'm ready to get to work. first things first, got to look the part. >> reporter: his typical routine amid the covid-19 crisis has been turned upside down. >> i've laid out my too- go bag

and everything else i need. my watch, badge, i.d. that's all normal. but these days i also bring a bag of wipes in case i need to wipe down any surfaces. and face masks. also here i have plenty of saha sanitizer as well as gloves. >> reporter: while maka is still clocking in the flight attendants union tells us 40 now employees are currently on a voluntary furlough. over the past few weeks over 500 flight taendants have tested positive for coronavirus. seven have died. >> we just went through security. got my crew behind me here. and there's hardly anyone in the airport. >> reporter: even though thousands of flights have been canceled since the beginning of the pandemic, flight attendants must be on board any plane that does take off. >> down we go. >> reporter: service on board has been cut short. >> the only thing we give out are these baggies. and in there we have cheez-its, bischoff cookies, hand sanitizer. a single point of contact we

hand out to them wearing our gloves and masks. >> from here in dulles getting ready to get on my plane to denver. >> reporter: united airlines flight attendant nick engen is also work in the not so friendly skies. >> just handing out cans. no more cups or ice. we have sodas for everybody. service is a little different now, but it's helping us protect our customers better. >> reporter: on the covid-19 front lines trying to keep their passengers who are choosing to fly safe. >> to dig a little deeper into the current plight of flight attendants earlier today i spoke with sara nelson, international president of the association of flight attendants. ms. nelson, thank you so much for joining us. you represent the flight attendants union. with so many flights canceled over the last two months give us a sense how flight attendants are making ends meet. >> this is very difficult because just like every other industry in america the airline

industry has been working off high productivity and what that really means is people count on overtime hours to make their ends meet. so those hours are completely gone and the airlines have been burning cash so fast. they've been asking for people to take voluntary leaves. and we are protected through the cares act but only to a very minimum standard. so this is a very stressful time. a lot of financial concerns. and there seems to be no end in sight at this point. >> reporter: the flight attendants are on the front lines interacting with passengers constantly while doing their job. are they getting enough protection, do you think, and what could the airlines do better to protect them more? >> we wrote a letter to d.o.t. and hhs about ten days ago asking the agencies to take the lead from the government and set a minimum standard for safety. we have been asking for proper ppe for flight attendants because we serve as aviation's first responders. so ideally we would have n95 masks, gloves, gowns, face shields should we ab tending to

anyone who actually becomes sick. but the airlines stepped up over the past week, and now the vast majority of airlines across the industry are requiring that anyone who's traveling wear a mask. they're also putting in place social distancing policies and work on the deep cleaning that's necessary to keep people safe. we know it's really important that not only do we keep our members safe and make sure their lives are protected but also that we give confidence to the traveling public, that aviation can be safe again. so we've got to put these measures in place both for our lives and also for our economic security. >> i know you're asking americans to suspend all their leisure flights. do you think it's realistic that the public will do that, will listen? >> that's in the context of our letter about making sure that we have safety provisions in place so that aviation is not extending the spread of the virus and in fact we're helping to stop spread it. so as we put these provisions in place and get the variety

contained, then we should be able to encourage people to come back and fly. and it's all connected. so we are not saying in absentia of these other things that leisure travel should stop. what we're saying is aviation is critical to continue essential service to all of our communities. and it is critical that we have safety measures in place so the public can regain confidence in buying tickets. both of those things have to go hand in hand. >> ms. nelson, final question if i may. i can't help but notice the picture over your shoulder. if i may ask, who's that? >> that's a friend of mine, paul fishcorn is his name. he was a long-time flight attendant and union representative. and he also was the first flight attendant to die due to complications with the coronavirus. and he stays here because i'll always remember him and i miss him dearly but also because he's a real inspiration for our fight for a world so we can be a part of saving lives and we can be a part of saving our industry.

and i can't they've a better inspiration for right now and all we have to do to keep people safe and to also return our economy to a space where we can all live freely. >> clearly, you and your colleagues know the high cost of this pandemic. sara nelson, thank you so much for your time p we wish you, your family your colleagues all the best. thank you. >> thank you. and coming up, we'll have a final note from the singing flight attendant. ♪ clap your hands differently. t works the gillette skinguard it has a guard between the blades that helps protect skin. the gillette skinguard.

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♪ and finally tonight, the healing power of music. this latest story done in partnership with abc local-ish. ♪ if you're happy and you know it clap your hands ♪

♪ if you're happy and you know it clap your hands ♪ therese miles is a flight attendant for southwest airlines, spreading the joy of music for more than two decades. now in the middle of this pandemic sweet serenades with a special significance for passengers. keeping spirits high. ♪ if you're happy and you know it ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ clap your hands what a gift. that's "nightline" for this evening. you can catch our full episodes on hulu. see you again this time tomorrow. that's "nightline." thanks for the company, america. good night. ♪ pa-da-pa, pa-da-pa, pa-da-pa ♪ pa-da-pa, pa-da-pa, pa-da-pa ♪ jimmy kimmel live >> from his house! >> jimmy: hi, everybody. i'm jimmy. thank you for watching television. think of this as a zoom call

where you don't have to say anything or pretend to care about your boss's dog. i had an okay week. i've been doing a lot of research, actually, to see if i can get cryogenically frozen until christmas. apparently it's doable. today as you may know is may the 4th, also known as star wars day, as in may the 4th be with you. and of course if you are celebrating "star wars" day be sure to stay at least two light sabers apart. we need the force now more than ever. as if we didn't have enough to worry about, as if things weren't already insane, the country is now being invaded by interstate 5. an official from the washington state department of agriculture said the hornets are probably not going to murder soon