In addition, the government more or less prohibited the airlines from operating most of their routes. In some cases regulation increased, in other cases certain passengers were banned, in yet other cases airlines can no longer operate specific flights. It seems reasonable the airlines have a claim against the public and their officials. I'm of the opinion many other businesses also have claims, however not everyone has clout -- and this is where the real travesty is in all of this.
Aviation should be treated like a public service, like a fire department or the public water utility. It is too vulnerable to the irrationality of civilization, hysteria, war, terrorism, etc., to be a long term viable market based entity. Yes, I think the airlines should be nationalized.
Once this is all over and the fear is reduced, there will be less flights available, more seats crammed into already tight spaces, airline travel will become more expensive and the customer service will be worse (if that is even imaginable). Have fun.
Getting back to the original post in this thread. There has been a lot of talk on social media apparently (aside from this forum I don't participate) about people not taking COVID-19 "seriously". My feeling is this type of thought process, this mindset, is irrational.
I had a rough childhood growing up. The byproduct of two narcissistic and alcoholic parents, I had a lot of hysteria and hypochondria. There were many months of wasted medical tests, irrational fear, depression, over and over again. I learned to not think that way, but honestly this took years. I'm a better person for it as the hypochondria and narcissistic thinking is a very self destructive process and also hurt those around me. I see A LOT of this type of behavior in society now, even in our politicians and policies. One of the most important things I learned reflecting about my own behavior is that when hysterical, reason, science and rationality are irrelevant. People will destroy everything they know and have to satisfy their subconscious demons.
Statistics show healthy people are rarely effected by this virus other than at most mild symptoms. For healthy people, this virus is literally as risky as a flu and nothing more. The majority of people in America are clearly unhealthy and have multiple pre-existing conditions (most chronic illness is preventable and reversible). For decades people in America have not taken their health seriously, obvious examples are obesity, diet, mental health and drug/alcohol addiction. All of a sudden people are taking their health seriously? I'm not buying what you are selling. People are reacting because of irrational fear, and when people do that they are very likely to make bad choices (from my own experience).
A morbidly obese person in a grocery store wearing a mask stocking up on unhealthy frozen foods and toilet paper and practicing social distancing is not someone who is taking their health seriously. Meanwhile, the majority of healthy people will get exposed to this virus, infected, develop immunity and not even know anything happened.
The science behind quarantines, lockdowns and social distancing is dubious. There are studies that show the virus is already widespread. There are studies that show there is not much health benefit from the catastrophic economic damage we are doing. In addition, those that support the lockdowns and quarantines all but ignore the mental health ramifications, the poverty and all the other social ills that go along with these policies -- but again, it's impossible to reason with hysteria (I know from experience). We won't know until there is a lot more testing, so current policy is based on theory, fear and previous fatality estimates that were likely much too high -- by orders of magnitude.
We are in this situation because people didn't take their health seriously. People don't eat healthy, they don't exercise, they don't deal with conditions they already have. We don't have nearly the amount of ICU facilities as Europe -- and now all of us will suffer significantly for years to come because people have not taken their health and healthcare seriously. Many people are sitting ducks for this illness because of their previous inability to take their health seriously, and now we all have to pay for their immaturity. Many people will have their lives turned upside down even though the virus will never cause them symptoms.
On the extreme I think it can be argued this is not a public health crisis. This is a crisis for those already ill, but those that are already ill are taking the rest of society down with them.
So don't give me that "not taking COVID-19 seriously" crap. I've taken my physical and mental health extremely seriously and because of that I am not concerned about this virus at all. I am however very concerned about the irrational psychology and the future effects as a consequence of such behavior.