Commercial flying during pandemic.

[DonPeffers]

30 apr 2020  https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-britain-wizz-air-hldg/wizz-air-makes-masks-compulsory-on-flights-idUSL8N2CI5LS

 

"Wizz Air makes masks compulsory on flights"    

 "Passengers travelling on Hungarian low cost airline Wizz Air will be required to wear masks on its flights from now on, a spokesman confirmed on Thursday.

Wizz said last week it would restart some flights from London’s Luton Airport on May 1, becoming one of the first European carriers to begin restoring services that have been halted during the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany’s Lufthansa said a day earlier that masks would be compulsory on its flights."

 

also seen

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/rear-facing-head-level-shield-plane-seats-the-future-air-travel-2020-4?r=US&IR=T

 

What does the collective think about wearing a face mask during a flight or the reverse seat idea for takeoff and landing?

 

[Blatman]

43 minutes ago, DonPeffers said:

What does the collective think about wearing a face mask during a flight or the reverse seat idea for takeoff and landing?

 

No problem here. Everyone should wear them because there is no way to know if there are asymptomatic passengers aboard and I always chose the rear facing seat on trains. I'd definitely chose them on a flight, except that I prefer a window seat...  

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I don't mind wearing a mask on a flight, as long as they're provided FOC - they are as rare as hen's teeth in UK at the moment. As for the rear facing seat goes it doesn't matter at all which way I face but I'm not sure that it is much use to prevent a miasma of viruses from drifting over from the seat immediately behind you. As for window seats, they're fine - I like to see how good my knowledge of the local topography is as I leave Blighty, and look at the scenery on approach to my destination. However since the only time my Good Lady and I have flown in the last twenty years it's been to and from Australia and for that journey I'll foresake the window seat for an aisle seat so that I can relieve my ancient bladder without climbing over sleeping fellow travellers. It's a bl**** long journey and any comfort you can get is to be valued! 

[Captain Colonial]

1 hour ago, DonPeffers said:

What does the collective think about wearing a face mask during a flight or the reverse seat idea for takeoff and landing?

Generally speaking, I’ve got no problems with face masks, but I prefer the pilot and first officer to face forward at all times, especially takeoff and landing.

[pistonbroke]

I would be concerned about air con being recirculating all the germs around the cabin , perhaps leaving the windows open a tad would help

 

 

[Weekend Warrior]

12 minutes ago, pistonbroke said:

I would be concerned about air con being recirculating all the germs around the cabin , perhaps leaving the windows open a tad would help

 

 

I agree ,don’t think a confined space and circulating the same air for hrs can be safe I won’t be flying for a while .I also think the check in process will have to  take much longer possibly meaning hrs spent in the airport before boarding .Im not that keen on flying anyway I’d rather drive .  

[BigSkyBrad]

A lot of military pax aircraft have all the seating facing rearwards (except for the pilot of course!) - far greater survival rate in an accident. The only reason it's forward facing in civil aircraft is because it freaks out 95% of travellers, which is rediculous because only the pilot gets to see out the front windw.

[Steve (sdh2903)]

All commercial aircraft recirculate air, however all also have huge hepa filters which all the recirc air passes through before heading back to the cabin. There are conflicting views on whether hepa filters are fully effective against covid19 but the theory says they should be.

[jeff oakley]

I think a lot of the traction about wearing masks is because people are scared. Boris said as much, they are useful to make people feel safe but if a mask is badly fitted by the user they are as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

 

Some would argue that they help especially from coughs but a badly fitted one just alters the angle of projectiles as they go around the sides.

 

I would happily fly with or without one but the suggestion that all planes will be fitted with screens and rear facing centre seats is not going to happen. By the end of the year we will have effective treatments and vaccines that will negate what will never go fully away.

 

 

[Blatman]

3 hours ago, jeff oakley said:

I would happily fly with or without one but the suggestion that all planes will be fitted with screens and rear facing centre seats is not going to happen. By the end of the year we will have effective treatments and vaccines that will negate what will never go fully away.

 

I tend to agree with all of that.

 

Unlike MotCO I fly quite a lot. I've averaged about 40 flights a year for the last 6 or 7 years. I still get as excited as a school boy, hence my preference for a window seat  

I have heard the same reasoning for not fitting rear facing seats in commercial aircraft. It is easy to imagine how during take off it could be a less than comfortable experience for many people but it wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

[Alan France]

For those who like flying and have too much spare time Flightradar24 allows you to record your flights.

 

This is mine.

 

https://my.flightradar24.com/Alan305

 

Most of my friends describe me as sad.

[DonPeffers]

If science can quickly produce a vaccine then that's great and could allow a swift return to near normality. Alternatively covid-19 might fizzle out naturally after a few more months like Sars 2003 (we live in hope).

 

I have never liked travelling backwards and a recent stepladder experience merely confirmed that. 

 

Recently I tried wearing a mask and got very hot very quickly so would it be possible to wear masks on a 3 hr (or longer) flight? What about serving food and drinks on longer flights? What about those who have consumed too much booze before the flight who might vomit into the mask they are wearing? (A lady next to me vomited over herself during a flight back from Aus. a few years back after consuming 2 bottles of wine on the plane).

Also as covid-19 has been found in faeces there could be a concern about toilets.

 

Troubling times especially for those in the airline industry.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman)]

Your looking at it with an old world, pre-Covid view.

 

Given that your breath/bodily fluids (eww) etc could potentially be a lethal weapon, and a requirement for masks is a possibility, would alcohol, or the intoxicated even be allowed on board in such a situation? Would you even need traffic light clearance to fly, (much like the traffic light restrictions in place in China).

[Nemesis]

18 hours ago, Steve (sdh2903) said:

All commercial aircraft recirculate air, however all also have huge hepa filters which all the recirc air passes through before heading back to the cabin. There are conflicting views on whether hepa filters are fully effective against covid19 but the theory says they should be.

I know a bit about HEPA Filters, I've been responsible for various systems in the nuclear world, the best filters only get down to  ~3 microns, and they only get up to the 99.995 % efficiency for nuclear contaminants due to the electrical charge of the particles, so unless the aircraft have active electrostatic HEPA filtering (like Submarines) I'm not going on one for a while.

 

Nem..... 

[Ian Podmore]

Can't see how mixing forwards and backwards seats would work, you wouldn't be able to get past the opposite facing seat.

 

Can see masks being required by all of us when out and about and not on our own.  Not that I like wearing a mask which I used to have to do from time to time many years ago for work.

 

I can see me driving to Europe more often in future, with much reduced travel, which is great as you really get sick of going through airports when you do 70+ flights a year.