American Airlines has resumed service at Westchester County Airport. The resumption of flights between Westchester and Chicago O”™Hare International Airport and Charlotte Douglas International in North Carolina came today as the county entered the fourth phase of the economic reopening program.
Operated by PSA Airlines on behalf of American, flight AA5180 marked the occasion by arriving at Westchester nine minutes ahead of its 12:57 p.m. scheduled arrival time. Flight AA4167 from O”™Hare, operated by Envoy Air on behalf of American, arrived six minutes ahead of its scheduled 11:29 a.m.arrival time.
The resumed service makes American the only major national airline to be providing service at Westchester at the current time. Cape Air and Tradewind Aviation provide service between Westchester and destinations in New England. Tradewind also runs some flights to the Caribbean.
Delta, JetBlue and United formerly had flown into and out of the airport. As a result of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, JetBlue said it was temporarily suspending service out of Westchester at the same time it stopped flights at New York Stewart International Airport near Newburgh. Delta and United also have paused Westchester flights.
The airport itself, operated for the county by AvPorts, has seen a number of upgrades to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Called the “SAFE HANDS” program, the measures include the installation of escalator rails equipped with ultraviolet light for sanitizing. Anti-cough barriers have been installed in certain locations and there are touchless hand-sanitizing stations. Signs have been posted reminding travelers to be sure to observe social distancing protocols with distance markers placed on some floors.
The phase four reopening allows low-risk outdoor arts and entertainment to resume at one-third capacity and indoor arts and entertainment such as aquariums and museums to resume operations at 25% capacity.
Religious activities are allowed to take place at one-third capacity. Social gatherings of up to 50 people also are allowed. Movie theaters, gyms, and malls still are on hold when it comes to reopening. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said he”™ll make decisions on those facilities based on data but did not say when.
Why isn’t there a place to quarantine arrivals? Why not take over a hanger and set up beds? Cone to NY and you’ll spend 14 days here 1st. That would keep a lot of people home and help stop the spread.
But Cuomo’s zero enforcement policy on quarantines is just useless grandstanding.