American Airlines will start packing flights to capacity. When to expect the change

American Airlines will start booking flights to capacity starting on July 1, the company announced in a press release on Friday.

“As more people continue to travel, customers may notice that flights are booked to capacity starting July 1. American will continue to notify customers and allow them to move to more open flights when available, all without incurring any cost,” American Airlines said.

Customers will also be allowed to “move to another seat within their ticketed cabin subject to availability,” according to the airline.

American Airlines has required all employees and customers to wear face coverings since May “unless there is a medical reason why they cannot,” according to the press release. Customers who refuse to wear masks would have their flight privileges limited, the company said.

Starting on June 30, customers will have to certify that they haven’t had COVID-19 symptoms for the past 14 days during the check-in process, the company said.

American Airlines has been blocking half of middle seats since April to ensure social distancing, USA Today reported.

United and Spirit airlines are already booking flights to capacity, according to the news outlet.

Meanwhile, Delta, JetBlue, and Southwest are still restricting seats or blocking middle seats, USA Today reported.

Some reacted negatively to the American Airlines news on Twitter.

“Corporations like @AmericanAir should not be allowed to make these decisions because they will choose profit over safety everytime,” user Josh Joslin tweeted.

“This is hugely irresponsible to be promoting the spread of #COVID19,” Twitter user Jules_Cesare tweeted. “You’re opening yourselves up for huge, class action suits.”

“Are we living in the twilight zone?,” Bill Ritter tweeted. “ABC’s @GioBenitez is reporting that American and United airlines are both starting to book flights to capacity. No blocked seats — nothing. Say what???!!”

The US has had more than 2 million confirmed cases of coronavirus as of June 26, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 124,000 have died from the virus in the U.S.

This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 12:16 PM with the headline "American Airlines will start packing flights to capacity. When to expect the change."