By Alison Sider

American Airlines says it will fill its planes completely as passengers start to return to traveling after the coronavirus pandemic decimated demand in recent months.

American has been leaving the equivalent of half the middle seats in economy cabins empty to facilitate social distancing, filling planes to about 85% of capacity. The airline said Friday that it will stop that practice July 1, while continuing to alert passengers when their flights are filling up, giving them the chance to switch free of charge.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. allows planes to fly full, though it also gives customers the chance to change flights. Spirit Airlines Inc. is also filling planes to capacity.

Delta Air Lines Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. are leaving open all middle seats, or the equivalent number of seats. Both airlines have said they plan to continue blocking seats through the end of September.

Airlines are now adding back flights, saying people have started to travel again to visit friends and relatives or head to vacation destinations after months of being cooped up at home. A surge of new infections in states that had been reopening, like Texas and Florida, could jeopardize the rebound in travel.

Airlines have mounted a campaign to convince passengers that flying is safe by preventing infection on board with enhanced cleaning procedures and other measures. American said it will start asking passengers to certify that they have been free of Covid-19 symptoms for 14 days when they check in, joining airlines including United and Southwest that have started asking passengers to attest to being symptom-free.

Airlines are also more stringently enforcing requirements that everyone onboard wear masks. American and other airlines have said that passengers who refuse to comply with mask requirements will risk losing the ability to book future travel.

"Wearing a face covering continues to be one of the most important ways travelers can protect themselves and others while flying," American said in a statement.

Social distancing has become a flashpoint. Throughout the spring, planes were nearly empty, giving everyone plenty of room to spread out. But as demand has started to pick up, some travelers were alarmed to find themselves unexpectedly on relatively full flights.

Airline executives have said keeping seats empty indefinitely is a money-losing proposition, and that even empty middle seats don't provide the level of social distancing that public-health officials recommend.

Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 26, 2020 12:04 ET (16:04 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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