I'm a flight attendant for United Airlines, COVID19 edition.

I've been a flight attendant for United Airlines for a little over three years. I've been to Eastern Asia 10 times, so it's a major route for me. By my sixth trip to Asia last year, it felt like I knew when every single single person in the cabin sneezed. <br><br>I flew my Eastern Asia rotation in December 2019, a month before COVID19 really hit. They made us watch a couple of videos about it, but no one really worried too much about it.<br><br>I flew home from my last trip in mid January, days after they locked down Wuhan. A week after I got back, the WHO declared an emergency. <br><br>My airline issued a statement that we were not permitted from wearing masks in the cabin. They said that we would only wear masks if someone on the plane was sick, and a sick person would be requested to wear a mask as well. A couple of days later, a major airline in Asia required all cabin crew to wear masks on every flight, and my airline's stance changed. We could now wear masks on the plane if we wanted to. They said it was against company policy to wear masks in the airport, but a lot of us ignored that directive. <br><br>My Eastern Asia rotation in February was cancelled, and I was reassigned to an internal route within North America. The flight departed the day that the US had its first case of COVID19. We were required to do extra cleaning of the lavatories and wipe down the seats and tray tables with disinfectant wipes as part of our preflight tasks. There was a lot of negative backlash from passengers who didn't want us to wear masks, especially Americans. They would say "You're being ridiculous", "You're overreacting", "You're scaring people". I'd politely tell them that I had just flown from a city with hundreds of cases less than two weeks ago, and I didn't want to bring anything back to them or take anything back home to my family. One guy got mad at me because he wanted a glass of water but I wouldn't give it to him until I had washed my hands again. <br><br>I flew to North America again in early March. I had to do some extra cleaning again, and we were issued new cleaning wipes that were supposed to be extra effective at killing viruses. There were a lot of empty seats on my flights. I noticed a big change in attitude from the passengers; A lot of people were now wearing masks, and they didn't have a problem with me wearing a mask. There was a guy who boarded the plane with a valentines day heart-shaped sucker in his mouth, covered in gold glitter. I thought that was fun. We ended up being short staffed, and I had to do the entire safety demo by myself in front of the whole cabin. I made a dad joke and said that this was a demonstration for everyone on board in case of an emergency, and someone near the front let out a snort of laughter. <br><br>On my last flight from North America back home, we were told that we should prepare the cabin for landing when we started our initial descent. The reason for this was that we had to get off the plane quickly, because a cleaning team would board the plane as soon as we left to disinfect the entire cabin. There was a major case of COVID19 at one of the major airports in North America the day before, and my flight departed from that airport. We landed in Asia, taxied to the gate, and when we were parked a man in a full PPE outfit came out to take our temperatures. I had a slight fever, but it was raining that day and I had gotten wet on the plane. They took my temperature again after 10 minutes, and it was normal. I went home, took a nap, and woke up feeling fine. <br><br>A couple of days ago, my airline suspended all of our Eastern Asian routes indefinitely. All Eastern Asian flights that were already in progress will be turned around at their destination and fly back to North America. My airline has given us the option to not fly for the next month without using our sick days, vacation days, etc. We will receive 75% of our pay which is based on the number of hours we work. <br><br>I live in North America, but I've been to Asia 10 times. I was treating the situation seriously from the beginning, but maybe I still underestimated how serious it really was. I've been to a country with thousands of cases. I've treating hundreds of people in a country with thousands of cases, and flown treating hundreds of people in a country with thousands of cases. And I did it 10 times. I am very lucky that I didn't contract anything. I'm especially lucky that I didn't bring anything home with me to my family, friends, or community. <br><br>EDIT I'm getting a lot of questions about the geographic location of my routes. I'm based in North America and fly to Eastern Asia. By Eastern Asia, I mean countries like South Korea, China, and Japan. These countries are all within a couple of hours of each other by flight, so when I say Eastern Asia, I mean the Asian countries that are east of India. <br><br>A lot of people have asked me why I didn't just quit my job in January. I'm a single parent with a 3-year-old daughter who relies on me completely. I have no savings because I went bankrupt when my daughter was born. I don't have much of a family or support system. It's not easy being a single parent; I've worked double shifts on Christmas Day, New Years Day, Easter Sunday, and Thanksgiving. I've missed out on seeing my daughter take her first steps, say her first words, and lose her first tooth. I've had to go to work with the flu, sinus infections, migraines, and sprained ankles. I do what I have to do, which is go to work. <br><br>The biggest source of anxiety for me is contracting something on the plane and bringing it back home to my daughter. I've taken major steps to minimize the risk, and so has my airline. We are taking every necessary precaution to ensure that the risk of transmission is minimized. We are required to report anyone who is sick to the captain, who reports it to the authorities at the destination. They will assess the risk of the situation when we land, and send the sick person home or to a hospital if necessary. We do not attend to sick people in the cabin, unless its an emergency like a heart attack or something. <br><br>I would much rather be at home with my daughter than working in a potentially contaminated work environment. But she relies 100% on me for everything, and so I go to work. <br><br>A couple of people have said that flight attendants aren't "essential" and that we should all lose our jobs. I get it, and I don't blame you for feeling that way. I don't feel "essential" either. But what about all the people who work in the airport? The baggage handlers, the caterers, the maintenance workers, the ground crew, the security personnel, etc.? They don't feel "essential" either. We all just want to go home, be with our families, and stay safe. COVID19 is not something to be taken lightly, and we all know it.