I visited 3 major US airports in one day and saw how vastly different social distancing policies are creating confusion for travelers

Traveling through Hartford's Bradley International Airport.Thomas Pallini/Business Insider

• Visiting airports in Hartford, Connecticut, Atlanta, and Charlotte, I saw how each is coping with social distancing and rising passenger numbers, as well as disparities across the three major airports.
• While Hartford's Bradley International had strict social distancing guidelines and required masks, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and Charlotte Douglas International did not have the same rules.
• The differences at each airport could also be seen with passengers, as those in Charlotte seemed to care little about distancing while those in Atlanta and Hartford were more aware of it.

If there was one thing I took away from flying during a pandemic, it's that there's no coordinated response in the aviation industry to handle the rising number of passengers in our nation's airports.

In the first week of June, I flew from Hartford, Connecticut to Atlanta and back via Charlotte. It was the first time I had flown since February and I was eager to see how much the industry that I write about on a daily basis had changed in four months.

On my journey, I'd be flying on three flights, visiting three airports on two major airlines, American and Delta. I knew roughly what to expect on my airlines, as Business Insider has been keeping track of most major airline policy changes when it comes to social distancing, but the airport experience would be a different story as there was increasingly less focus on airports.

This trip would have me visit some of the busiest airports in the US, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Charlotte Douglas International Airport, as well as Hartford's Bradley International Airport.

Here's what it was like.