I never thought I would see things slowly come back to normal. Last year seemed to have dragged on for an eternity thanks to COVID 19. For a while, we all seemed to adjust to a new way of life - unfortunately, our favorite businesses shut down permanently, and most people were "handcuffed" at home. Needless to say, fewer vacations were taken, if any. This pretty much explains the emptiness airports all around the country experienced. Fortunately, the arrival of vaccination shots and mask-wearing became more common. The future is encouraging - AP News recently reported that in North Dakota "The state’s eight commercial service airports saw a significant increase in passenger numbers last month compared to April 2020". That is very encouraging news when you compare that to the recent past "Just 4,964 passengers traveled by air in April of last year during the pandemic. That was the lowest monthly total since record-keeping began four decades ago" AP News.

With all of the information I read, and what I wrote about in this blog, I was expecting to see Bismarck airport in full stride just last Thursday. I was heading out to my hometown San Diego. Wearing a mask is an absolute must the second you set your foot inside the airport, and that was no big deal - my problem is that I am borderline claustrophobic, and at first it was impossible to think about having it on through the whole trip. From the three airports, Bismarck, Minneapolis, and San Diego I experienced, I didn't see anyone upset at all with the mask restrictions - they all accepted it, and realized it's part of their trip now. The airline I flew Delta, made it very clear of all the new safety requirements they follow pertaining to COVID-19. I made my adjustments successfully, and I observed that air travel was just as crowded today as it was in the past. Some things have never changed however, you still have to take a loan out if you plan on buying lunch inside an airport - for there is nothing quite like a $49 salad!


 

 

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