Is air travel whilst wearing masks safer than we think? US Government study says it is

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• Littlefish says:

  17 Oct17 October 05:12

  Good article. Yes, that latest study is very helpful.
  For me the key result is the 0.087% on page 21. The 777 seat 47D results graphic.
  So … waaaay higher than 0.003%.
  Neighbours are getting far the highest dose, but the drop-off further from the infectee is pretty quick (which confirms previous consensus).
  So it boils down to, am I able to avoid a seatmate?
  Things are brighter on short-haul and where Airlines are mandating masks, as the doses will be much less.
  Interesting results graphics though as spread does go a row or two back in some situations.

• Olly says:

  17 Oct17 October 05:50

  Does it say what happened when the mannequin took off her mask to eat lunch? Or walked around the cabin with the mask not fully over their face?

  • Andrew says:

    17 Oct17 October 08:01

    This is the problem with masks. Theoretically they should work. In reality they’ve had little to no impact everywhere they’ve been introduced. People just don’t use them properly.

    • Chris says:

      17 Oct17 October 08:05

      Apart from say Taiwan and large parts of SE Asia

      • Philip says:

        17 Oct17 October 10:50

        The much more likely reason why people in “say Taiwan and large parts of SE Asia” have faired very much better than in the West, is because their obesity levels are significantly lower :-

        https://twitter.com/AlistairHaimes/status/1317398798428114944

        • Lady London says:

          17 Oct17 October 14:00

          plus people in those ucountries seem to do what they are told. Instead of regarding it as their personal right to potentially go around infecting people including the vulnerable.

    • mr_jetlag says:

      17 Oct17 October 09:18

      They work when used properly, and when people follow scientific advice.

    • Littlefish says:

      17 Oct17 October 12:21

      Masks work very well. Sure they would work better if of better quality / better fit / higher take up, etc etc. But at best they are reducing virus levels from 100% to 40%-75%. Which is huge and fine, its just not a 100% reduction.
      Same with distancing, same with hands washing. Neither are 100% effective.
      Hence why time in exposure to the virus is a large factor and indoors is so much riskier.
      By & large, households and social settings (parties, pubs, places of worship) show up at the top of the charts for transmission across europe from contact tracing data. Each are settings where mask wearing will be low and time indoors in close proximity is high.
      In these situations trying to mitigate with masks would seem too onerous and unlikely (in the West); so its simply a case of adopting different measures in those settings …. which is currently just not happening. It needs to!

    • @mkcol says:

      17 Oct17 October 17:01

      If you’re going to make sweeping statements such as this then you need to evidence the source, unless this is just your opinion.
      Otherwise your statement becomes pointless.

  • TripRep says:

    17 Oct17 October 08:59

    Or visiting the toilet, ewww

• Andrew says:

  17 Oct17 October 06:38

  The thought of keeping a mask on for a 12 hour flight and trying to sleep whilst wearing it is reason enough not to fly. I’ll be sticking to Qatar business class where you’re free to take off your mask after boarding and leave off for the entire flight (economy have to keep it on with a visor too).

  • Barry cutters says:

    17 Oct17 October 08:29

    No airline I’ve been on in the last few weeks is really enforcing that you have to keep the mask on;
    BA- long shorthaul, Ryanair , and lot long/short haul

    I flew to Athens yesterday on a 787-8 in club , took the mask off once seated – put it back on for 5 mins to go to the loo abs grab a beer . But apart from that was off most the journey . Most others the same- or the very least had the nose exposed .

    I’m not supporting or condemning – just sharing my observations and highlighting that if your worry is wearing a mask for 12h , I would worry too much . Cabin crew seem to take a pragmatic approach and treat us like adults .

    • Susan says:

      17 Oct17 October 08:57

      I wear a mask to protect others in case I’m contagious but asymptomatic. If the airlines aren’t requiring this basic courtesy then they’re not getting my cash.

      • TripRep says:

        17 Oct17 October 09:01

        This is why I think I’ll only step onto an aircraft where the long haul destination mandates a negative test.

        • Optimus Prime says:

          17 Oct17 October 14:13

          Even at a cost of £150 per person?

    • AJA says:

      17 Oct17 October 09:01

      Your real world evidence of the lack of compliance with mask wearing rather negates the benefits that the studies try to prove.

      If the majority on board do not wear their masks all of the time then that is what the studies should simulate.

      I remain unconvinced by the claims of the benefits of HEPA filters.. The trouble is replacing air every 3 minutes is not often enough but I understand why the airlines do it because of fuel savings.

      Also if HEPA filters were as effective as claimed then there would be no need to wear masks at all. Plainly that’s not true or there would be close to zero cases of covid transmission on board.

      I think these studies are important and if they convince some people to travel that’s great for the airlines.

      • Iain miller says:

        17 Oct17 October 09:46

        I suspect the results of the simulated without the masks would be broadly similar.

        And they can’t have people thinking masks are of little bene8can they?

    • elt says:

      17 Oct17 October 19:37

      BA flights to sicily 2 weeks ago , both out and back, had several announcements during flight reminding people to wear masks.

  • simpletastes says:

    17 Oct17 October 12:44

    At least since late August, Qatar also has required Business Class passengers to wear masks throughout the flight unless eating or drinking. The difference is that Economy Class passengers also have to wear visors throughout the flight unless eating or drinking.

• David Walker says:

  17 Oct17 October 08:01

  What it does also not say is the touch situation of hat racks ,tables seat fabrics and cabin crew giving out forms and collecting them, loaning pens and passengers passing them around and I dare not even think what happens in a toilet.
  Now we KNOW that the virus stays on surface for 14 days ..

  And can I just remind you there is no such thing as FRESH AIR on an aeroplane.
  You are getting the exhaust fumes intake of warm, pressurised air On ALL aircraft except the 787 which uses an ioniser to recirculate the same Cooler, filtered air for the duration of your flight.
  Look up up TOXIC AIR SYNDROME .. Boeing have started paying people now compensation for KNOWING this was poisoning passengers and crew to terrible illness and slow death.

  • Polly says:

    17 Oct17 October 13:46

    Bring your own wipes and wear disposable gloves too….and keep the mask on as much as possible, if it’s necessary to fly somewhere…

  • Kevin says:

    18 Oct18 October 08:20

    I suggest you google aircraft air conditioning systems, and learn the source of the air that ends up inside the cabin – I’ll give you a clue though, it’s not from the exhaust section as you suggest.

• The Savage Squirrel says:

  17 Oct17 October 08:06

  As your article says: real life better than simulation
  In Vitro studies like the one the article is based on can give you a basic understanding of one of the dynamics at play and nothing more. Basically where to focus efforts on transmission. The cannot and should not be used to draw conclusions about real world risk levels in complex and dynamic environments (such as hundreds of humans interacting in an aircraft).
  To give a simple example why – 99.99% of particles may not reach other people directly via aerosol – however a greater number will deposit on the person themselves (they’re closer to their own mouth than anyone else, right?). If they then touch stuff or get up and walk around – or pass objects to others – or other people nearby do (so 100% probability of this) the situational dynamics and risk levels change completely.

  You’re obviously trying to make the point that perceived risk or aircraft transmission is greater than actual risk, which is true and well accepted (see the 2005 Lancet paper on infectious disease and commercial air travel) – but your final sentence that the airport and public transport are more likely locations for spread than aircraft are entirely unsupported by any of the material in the article (leaving aside the fact that aircraft ARE public transport). That conclusion drawn from that body of evidence would be a fail mark in a school level science write-up; and would be laughable at research level.

  Ultimately the only thing that can give you a basis for real world risk is measurement of the real world with all its complexity. As you rightly recognise, current studies are limited and flawed (although again, given your graduate journalist team, quoting the IATA “study” and describing it as such, when it is merely a non-peer-reviewed opinion peice by a body with an obvious and massive bias motive – isn’t great). The studies we have are – like all real world restrospective studies – flawed and compromised, but they are, and will remain, the best we have for assessing real world risk; and as they grow in number they should gain some accuracy and reliability.
  Welcome to science – it’s flawed, imperfect, and gives equivocal and uncertain answers. But it’s the best we’ve got.

• Chris Heyes says:

  17 Oct17 October 08:13

  Another perspective would be allow planes to fly but ban airports and public transport

• sayling says:

  17 Oct17 October 09:08

  1.2 billion passengers is a helluva lot of people that have been flying 😳

  • Tariq says:

    17 Oct17 October 09:33

    How many people do you think are on the planet? 🤣

    Likewise when people talk about thousands or millions of infections or deaths. In the grand scheme of things, the numbers are insignificantly low.

    • simpletastes says:

      17 Oct17 October 12:48

      Yes but “the grand scheme of things” is not the best or only way to view many things.

• Ian says:

  17 Oct17 October 09:13

  It is not when seated on the aircraft that concerns me providing face masks are being worn that concerns me but the scramble which exists on disembarkation when every passenger seems to stand up, retrieve their hand baggage and attempts to be the first of the plane (which happened to me last week on an EasyJet flight from Stanstead to Edinburgh!)

  • Littlefish says:

    17 Oct17 October 12:31

    Yep! And this I am able to counter-act somewhat with my own behaviour.
    I move up to my highest filtration mask for boarding (if a scrum) and from the bing-bong on arriving at the Gate. It is uncomfortable to use for more than 20 minutes or so, so I switch from my in flight fact attire.
    Its also handy for any long or poorly organised immigration queue.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.