When people don't fly, the airlines respond by taking aircrafts out of service.
[Ads /]
RELATED: Oakland Southwest gate agent tests positive for COVID-19, I-Team asks if passengers will get informed
At Oakland International Airport we saw about a half dozen Alaska Airlines jets clustered together in a spot between terminals. You can find a similar sight at major airports across the country, especially in hub cities like Dallas or San Francisco's SFO, which has a huge maintenance center for United Airlines.
"The airplanes are meant to fly and the engines are meant to run," Hoi Ko, the chairman of the Aviation Maintenance and Technology department at the college of Alameda said.
He says parking a jet built to carry a couple of hundred people is not the same as parking your car.
"In short term storage they might have to run the engine from time to time, or they might have to run certain systems to keep them lubricated and operating" he said.
[Ads /]
RELATED: Shelter in place for another 5 months? Here's what Stanford researchers are projecting
Otherwise the planes could suffer corrosion and need expensive repairs. But, if the drop in flights continues because of the virus, the aircraft would need longer term storage.
"For a long-term process they would drain everything and kind of pickle them" he said.
The International Air Transport Association says 8,500 airliners have been taken out of service worldwide. That's about one third of the entire fleet.
[Ads /]
But Hoi says Boeing, Airbus and other aircraft manufacturers have manuals with procedures on short, medium and long term storage of airplanes. He says the flying public shouldn't worry about the safety of planes already airline fleets when they are back to full strength.
If you have a question or comment about the coronavirus crisis, submit yours via the form below or here.
Get the latest news, information and videos about the novel coronavirus pandemic here
RELATED STORIES & VIDEOS:
- Live updates about coronavirus outbreak in US, around the world
- WATCH: ABC7's interactive town hall 'Race and Coronavirus: A Bay Area Conversation'
- Everything you need to know about the Bay Area's shelter-in-place order
- Stimulus calculator: How much money should you expect from coronavirus relief bill
- What Bay Area tenants need to know about rent payments, eviction amid COVID-19 outbreak
- Live updates about coronavirus outbreak in US, around the world
- Here's how shelter in place, stay at home orders can slow spread of COVID-19
- Coronavirus Timeline: Tracking major moments of COVID-19 pandemic in San Francisco Bay Area/
- Coronavirus and the new normal of living in the San Francisco-Bay Area -- COVID-19 Diaries
- Happy hour goes virtual as people try to be sociable while social distancing during COVID-19 crisis
- Coronavirus Outbreak: Here's why you should practice 'social distancing'
- DRONEVIEW7: What the Bay Area looks like during the coronavirus shelter-in-place
- ABC7's drive around San Francisco shows empty streets, businesses shuttered
- Symptoms, prevention, and how to prepare for a COVID-19 outbreak in the US
- List of stores, companies closing due to coronavirus pandemic
- Canceled late fees, free services available amid COVID-19 crisis
- Here's how you can help during COVID-19 pandemic
- How to maintain learning during school closures
- No masks but here are 100+ products that may help protect you against novel coronavirus germs
- Here's a look at some of history's worst pandemics that have killed millions
- Asian community fighting racism, xenophobia, bigotry as world fights COVID-19