Well that didn’t last long. Profits outweigh pandemic health fears as airlines get ready to pack passengers in again. Canada’s two largest airlines are ending their on-board seat distancing policies starting July 1, raising health concerns amid a pandemic that has devastated the travel industry. Air Canada earlier blocked the sale of adjacent seats in economy class, and WestJet has done the same throughout the entire plane, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

However, the carriers said Friday they will revert to health recommendations from the United Nation’s aviation agency and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) trade group.

American Airlines also announced Friday that it will start booking flights to full capacity starting next Wednesday.

IATA called last month for an end to in-flight physical distancing rules, proposing a range of measures including some that run counter to federal government policies.

Transport Canada listed physical distancing among the “key points” in preventing the spread of the virus as part of a guide issued to the aviation industry in April.

“Operators should develop guidance for spacing passengers aboard aircraft when possible to optimize social distancing,” the document states.

Some health experts have highlighted the risks of spreading COVID in crowded airports and packed cabins.

“Once it’s in the cabin, it’s difficult to stop air moving around,” said Tim Sly, an epidemiologist and professor emeritus at Ryerson University’s School of Public Health.

However, Joseph Allen, director of the Harvard public health school’s Healthy Buildings program, said the HEPA air filters used on most planes effectively control airborne bacteria and viruses. HEPA filters are effective, but they will only protect from airborne viruses or bacteria. They will not be effective if the person beside you is unmasked (there are exemptions to the wearing of masks) or lowers their mask, or in any number of other scenarios, such touching a try table or hard surface that may not have been properly cleaned.

In line with federal directives, Air Canada and WestJet conduct pre-boarding temperature checks and require masks on board. They have also implemented enhanced aircraft cleaning and scaled back their in-flight service in late March, cutting out hot drinks, hot meals and fresh food.

“The new measures will continue to build on the recommendations of ICAO (the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization) and others that a multi-layered strategy to COVID-19 safety is most effective,” Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said in an email.

WestJet said its online booking will return to normal on Wednesday.

“Moving forward, our cabin crew are able to assist should there be space to accommodate and we encourage guests to discuss seating arrangements with them once onboard,” said spokeswoman Morgan Bell.

They are certainly not doing their cabin crew, or passengers, any favours by moving the problem onboard. The seating arrangement is known before boarding – why not bite the bullet and give passengers the facts (“no you will not have an empty seat beside you”) ahead of time rather than having arguments escalate in the cabin as passengers try to get moved or refuse to move. This is a recipe for disaster.

American Airlines will also start booking flights to full capacity next week, ending any effort to promote social distancing on its planes while the United States sets records for new reported cases of the coronavirus.

American’s move matches the policy of United Airlines but contrasts sharply with rivals that limit bookings to create space between passengers to minimize the risk of contagion.

The pilots’ union at American said it hopes that the airline reconsiders and instead decides to add more flights using idle planes and crews.

American said Friday that it will continue to notify customers if their flight is likely to be full, and let them change flights at no extra cost. The airline said it will also let passengers change seats on the plane if there is room and if they stay in the same cabin.

Since April, American has limited bookings to about 85% of a plane’s capacity by leaving about half the middle seats open. However, the airline will start selling every seat it can beginning next Wednesday.

Delta says it is capping seats at about 60% of capacity and Southwest at about 67%, both through Sept. 30. JetBlue says it will leave middle seats empty through July 31 unless the person is travelling with a passenger in an adjoining seat.

United, Spirit Airlines and now American, however, are taking a different approach, arguing that other steps – including stepped-up cleaning procedures and requiring all passengers to wear face coverings – eliminate the need to block some seats. United CEO Scott Kirby has said social distancing is impossible on planes anyway; that even with empty middle seats, people are less than six feet away from each other.

The number of confirmed new COVID-19 infections in the US hit an all-time high of 40,000 this weekend, eclipsing a record set on April 24, according to Johns Hopkins University. Several of American’s busiest airports are in states with skyrocketing infection rates, including Texas, Florida, Arizona and North Carolina.

American’s headquarters are in Fort Worth, Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday rolled back some steps the state had taken just two months ago in an aggressive attempt to re-open its economy.

The airline announced the change deep into a press release that was mostly devoted to measures it is taking to clean planes and kill the virus.

“As more people continue to travel, customers may notice that flights are booked to capacity starting July 1,” American said. Starting Tuesday, American will ask passengers to confirm that they haven’t had COVID-19 symptoms in the previous 14 days.

Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst with Atmosphere Research Group, said American “is clearly putting its profitability ahead” of the health of both passengers and its own employees.

“Packing an airplane 100% full without health testing in place is a risky business decision. If someone contracts the COVID-19 virus on a 100% full plane, they’re going to sue American Airlines,” Harteveldt said. “Just because another airline is doing it doesn’t mean it’s the right business decision.”

But another expert, travel agent Brett Snyder, who writes a blog called Cranky Flier, said American probably has data to back up its decision from a business perspective.

“If they are making this change to sell every seat, then they know that people talk a lot” about preferring empty middle seats, “but in the end they will still fly if the price is right,” Snyder said.

Since April, American offered to rebook people whose flights might be full, but only about 4% of passengers have taken that option, according to the airline.

Snyder said most people flying now are leisure travellers who have decided that it’s an acceptable risk. He said rules on face masks, extra cleaning measures, and high-efficiency air-filtration systems make planes “a relatively safe place.”

Airlines have been devastated by the pandemic, as travel dropped by about 95% at its low point in April. Since then, traffic has picked up slightly – the number of people passing through security checkpoints at US airports on Thursday was 77% lower than the comparable day a year ago.A spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American’s pilots, said the move could hurt the public’s already fragile confidence in flying.“We were shocked. I can’t imagine a worse time to tell passengers that the airplanes they may be on will be completely full,” said the union spokesman, Dennis Tajer.

American has plenty of planes that have been grounded because of the pandemic, and it has idle pilots and flight attendants who must remain on the payroll through September as a condition of federal financial aid. If a flight will be full, “Why wouldn’t you just put another airplane on?” Tajer asked.

American is adding flights. Including its American Eagle regional subsidiary, the airline has scheduled 3,479 flights for July, a 60% jump over June but still 48% below last July’s schedule.

Airlines have struggled to balance concern about safety during the pandemic with their need to sell tickets. Airline revenue has plummeted since early March, forcing the carriers to rely on billions in federal aid and private borrowing to survive until travel recovers, which might not happen until there is a vaccine.

Frontier Airlines tried to charge passengers extra to guarantee they would be next to an empty middle seat. The budget airline was forced to retreat last month amid accusations that it was trying to profit from people’s fear of contracting a deadly virus.