| Air travel is a nightmare again. I flew from Chicago's O'Hare Airport to New York's LaGuardia on Sunday. My outbound flight one month ago was quiet and sparsely populated. I convinced myself taking the 8:30 a.m. service the morning after a holiday known for burgers and beer would keep the crowds away. I was wrong. One-quarter the number of airline passengers who flew last July 5 flew this year, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Still, domestic passenger volume is improving from earlier in the pandemic, according to trade group Airlines for America. And 37% of the U.S. passenger fleet remains idle, which means the planes that are still aloft can be cramped. I asked the gate agent if I could switch seats to sit next to my boyfriend. She encouraged me to ask my neighbors. That was how I learned my flight was mostly, if not entirely, full.  Passengers in line for a flight in Chicago on Sunday. Photographer: Angelica LaVito/Bloomberg When it was time to board, people rushed to form a line, ignoring stickers reminding them to stay six feet apart. The gate agent over the speaker yelled, "Six feet, six feet!" Nobody moved. I tried to distance while walking to my seat. It's not really feasible when people standing are anxious to sit down and people are sitting on both sides of you. One man in an aisle seat coughed while I was facing him and it reminded me how vulnerable I felt. When we landed, a flight attendant on the speaker asked people to remain in their seats until the row in front of them stood to avoid crowding. Half the plane did not comply. Where I sat in the back, people actually listened. Packed planes are stressful enough. Add in the uncertainty of whether a cough is just a cough while stuck in close quarters for a few hours and it's easy to see why people are wary of flying and may be for quite some time.—Angelica LaVito | 
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