There’s No Escape From the Virus in a Cockpit at 30,000 Feet

They must sit close to coworkers for hours on end. Social distancing from strangers -- their customers -- is nearly impossible. After work they head for nearly deserted hotels and scrounge for places to buy food.

Thousands of pilots and flight attendants risk exposing themselves to the deadly coronavirus on a daily basis. Well over 500 have fallen ill and a handful have died.

Unions are frustrated at the U.S. government’s unwillingness to mandate standards and what they say is a failure of the airlines and even some passengers to fully adhere to the recommendations of health authorities.

“Airline pilots ...