Passenger Boards AA Flight with One Other, Empty Cabins New Normal

Just about every industry in America is being hit hard by the coronavirus -- but when you have the whole plane pretty much to yourself ... you know airlines are especially screwed.

Meet Dan Nolan, who took an American Airlines flight Saturday from Newburgh, NY to Philly, and would later connect to an L.A. flight. Along the way, he walked into an empty cabin -- save for one other passenger traveling with him -- and it truly made for a surreal scene.

Rows and rows of empty seats, except for Dan and other fella. Yeah, he had some fun with it ... but this reality is becoming more and more common. And, frankly, it's concerning on a number of fronts.

For one, it's a testament to how doused the air travel industry is with coronavirus woes right now. Very few are flying at the moment, and airlines have cut back their flight schedules significantly. Meanwhile, the government hasn't shut 'em down yet -- as they're deemed essential. The more and more of this we see, though, might change that.

Frankly, it's probably more expensive to operate these planes and flights -- even just the domestic ones -- than the money they're seeing coming in from anyone booking tickets. At the end of the day, airlines might have to seriously self-regulate to avoid going under.

The new stimulus package that just passed will certainly help in avoiding that, but still ... the longer this goes on, the more dire it becomes. Not just that, but some flight attendants have also expressed concerns about having to continue working, worrying about getting sick.