Will we always be wearing masks on aircraft now?
 

Given the pandemic is now endemic, is there a real path to not having to wear one for hours at a time?
Not looking for a pro mask vs. anti mask debate, am asking from a customer experience standpoint, has any airline in the small no of countries who have ended restrictions lifted the mask mandate for air travel?

I think some small carriers in Iceland in late June 2021 allowed domestic flights to be mask free (or didn't bother enforcing masks being needed) - think 9 or 19 seat props going to remote areas. At the time, Iceland had essentially zero domestic cases - all reported cases came from compulsory PCR testing of all pax on arrival at Keflavik. Then Iceland relaxed Covid controls a bit too much, and Covid reappeared in July in a big way, and the airlines changed their policies

Good question. I want to start flying again but wearing a mask for more than 20 minutes and I feel as if I'm suffocating! Why should fully vaccinated passengers need to wear a mask?

In case you are a carrier

That's the irony, all the jabbed are as likely to carry the covid virus as the un-jabbed. Studies (from Israel i think) suggested that inoculated persons had a much higher viral load whilst being asymptomatic, compared to the non persons whose asymptomatic viral load was quite a bit less. . The takeaway from this study was that masks were still needed so as to stop the asymptomatic spread to persons (jabbed or un-jabbed) whose ability to fend off the effects of covid might be less.

I suppose that if mask-averse (as in wearing one for ages) then to find one/style that makes the wearing of it the least uncomfortable. Hopefully those much lauded HEPA filters will do a good job of scrubbing the cabin air. I have a feeling that masks and aircraft will be together for a good while yet. Whether due to fear of being sued by passengers or some form of control mechanism.

This means masks forever, which is my worry. COVID is unarguably endemic now, so we need to live with it. Once most of us are vaccinated, I am willing to bet they'll still insist on facemasks. And I am loath to spend money on long haul travel while I need to mask up. From a customer experience standpoint, I don't want to be around people in that environment, call it a trigger if you like. But with COP in Glasgow coming up, I wonder if they will insist on masks in future in a bid to help mitigate non essential travel?

Building back better? (Til the lights go off this winter!)

Some airlines are actually becoming more restrictive regarding mask as international travel picks back up. Specifically, they are mandating specific types of masks (e.g. N95), not just any cloth mask that you want to use.
Aside from the general dislike of wearing masks for an extended period (recently flew Seattle to Washington DC and back - ~5 hrs. each way, plus mandatory masks in the airport - yuk), it's the view of masks as some sort of magic bullet that annoys me. Yes, masks help, but not nearly as much the politicians imply. One study showed mask use reducing transmissible of Covid by only 8%. Better than nothing, but not much...

It seems to be headed that way, but perhaps if we only travelled for a specific reason, rather than on a whim because we fancied X, much as we would a takeaway meal, then the whole earth pollution angle would be realistic. In the last 20 yrs the massive expansion of the weekend market has allowed millions of people who otherwise mightn't have gone away (except for their annual beach trip) to travel 'just because'. This has been fantastic for the aviation industry and ancillary industries, and for those destination cities, but at a certain point it was too much. Barcelona was one of the first major weekend destinations, now reduced to a seething mass of uncouth visitors in busy periods, what a difference from before.

I haven't flown in nearly a year, but tbh when I next do I'll wear the mask under duress, but in the knowledge that it's probably the new normal and think of what it is i'm flying to and why.

Wearing the mask on a long haul flight sucks. But it is what it is.
Air France gave me a surgical mask to wear instead of my triple layer cloth one. They were pleasant about it.

If on a non-stop flight to a destination that on arrival requires a negative PCR test result no more than 72 hours from the departure time then everyone on the flight, including crew, are "negative" otherwise they wouldn't be permitted to board the flight, so is there a need to wear masks in this situation while in flight ?

Alas there is still a window of at least 24 hours to become infected, between being tested and boarding the aircraft. Plenty of time for one to visit the supermarket, shopping mall, restaurant, nightclub, cinema, theatre, etc

It depends.
If people around the world start to understand that they have the right to say they don't want masks anymore, even if it costs some lives or some "long covid", maybe we will have a chance to one day live mask free again.
But I'm very afraid if we never wake up and say no, we will keep them on for the rest of our foreseeable lives.

You can be mask free... you just can't fly.

I presume pax still get fed and watered on long haul flights. They have to remove masks to eat and drink. It therefore seems futile to be wearing a mask the rest of the time. No problem with wearing a mask at the airport / at the gate / during the boarding process. Likewise during the arrival process. No problem with wearing a mask on the aircraft whilst moving around the cabin (as in going to and from the washroom). But wearing a mask in one's seat for 6 to11 odd hours is just OTT.

I​​t's called covid theatre. It's virtue signalling by airlines so if you do go down with covid at your destination you can't blame /sue them.

I can live without flying.

Musket90

What makes you think the crew are tested?

I would've thought that if subjected to many hours of mask wearing on a longhaul flight, the passengers might well take it off whilst in the washroom, to wash face etc and out of a need to be free of said encumbrance for a short while. This washroom being a very enclosed space, shared by possibly a hundred other passengers from the flight. As said above, no joined up thinking, box ticking and legal doings.

If anyone wants to encourage passengers they have to relax the mask regulations. I have travelled in the past year a couple of times solely for work and I hate it. There would be zero chance of me and for many others going through the experience for a holiday.

Most people don’t mind. I travel both for work and leasure. Planes are full. People wear masks. I’d argue that more people would be uncomfortable top travel without masks.

I would say - Yes, for at least five years. There may be changes in infection rates and other factors but, as BFM says, it is all about @rse covering by the airlines. MANY corporates will be doing the same. Whether it is simply masks or requiring vaccination, it will be take it or leave it. I have yet to do my first long haul in a mask but I will.

Many COVID measures are by and large about liability avoidance on part of those in charge. Just because, you know, if someone gets sick, their lawyer might decide that the local government, the airline, the company management or whoever else didn't perform their duty of care and that's why poor chap got infected. That's why I think that the very earliest we can talk about ditching the masks on board is whenever the WHO declares that the pandemic is over. That's the best-case scenario. In a less optimistic scenario, nothing will change in our lifetimes, not to the least because there are communicable diseases other than COVID which can hypothetically be passed on an aircraft.

I tend to agree; its not actually that troublesome. I get to some its uncomfortable....but such is much of the modern air travel experience, particularly on long haul

Also, for years I'd more often than not suffer with some lurgy or other after one of my regular SA-UK-SA longhauls, so probably makes a bit of sense anyway......

Masks not required anymore where I live, and haven't been for around half a year. What a relief.

I came to think of many Asians who for years before covid wore masks in all kinds of places and are probably used to wearing them for a longer time. I was in Reykjavík, Iceland in December 2019, strolling down the main street, and passed a group of 6 - 8 what too me seemed Japanese tourists, all wearing masks ! Outdoors, in sub-zero temperature, breathing the world's cleanest air !

Well, that's rather off topic.

In most countries, you can be mask free, you just can't go to the restaurant, the movies, the theater, you can't go buy groceries, you can't walk outside in many cities, etc..

At some point we will have to say no if we ever want to live maskfree gain.

At least in the USA, wearing masks in the airport and on aircraft is a federal government mandate. The airlines currently have no voice in the matter.

If you take the data points of the London Underground where you have to wear a mask and min 10% don't, (on my last few times in town) then I think that to say "most people don't mind" is not correct. I can't imagine long haul leisure wearing a face mask. And planes are full because capacity is on the floor here in the UK.

I wonder if next summer might see easing of such rules on UK domestics. The other hopeful point is the FAA mask mandate is time limited and likely won't be renewed before that much longer.

I think that what little value there is to wearing masks on aircraft is to be so small as to be pointless in comparison to how much of a nuisance it is for some people, along with the waste in terms of having to manufacture and dispose of all these masks.

I have flown quite a few times during the pandemic for work, always long haul. In my experience, although everyone boards the aircraft with a mask, people look for every opportunity to not wear them. I do observe some people who are very strict with their face masks, but the majority of people are taking very long periods of time to consume drinks, meals and snacks (and not wearing their mask in the process), many people are not wearing the mask over both nose and mouth (usually the nose is uncovered), and quite a few people remove them when they go to sleep (or have them half off again). It is difficult for me to imagine how much benefit we are actually getting from this, other than some kind of backside covering exercise, or maybe it is to make some people 'feel' safe.

For me, I hope the mandate is removed ASAP. I already find the experience of flying makes it much more a chore, and wouldn't travel if it wasn't for the fact I am required to for my employment. I definitely won't be travelling for leisure until this rule is relaxed.

Any federal mandate is still a political decision which involves lots of the proverbial lower back covering. Would the government like to be seen as the one to blame if the rules were relaxed and the situation deteriorated?

I seem to recall that sometime last year (?) people were saying something like, it's OK, cabin ventilation is excellent, air replaced many times a minute, each seat has your own air vent, minimal risk of catching Covid during a flight. Did I dream that?

Since retirement I travelled regularly by air for leisure and always in Business Class for long haul. My last flights were in October 2019. Although I miss travel and flying very much I have no desire to do so whilst these various draconian regulations apply. Talking to friends I know I'm not the only one thinking like this. The airlines are missing out on billions of potential revenue as a result of government mandates (which is basically put in place to protect those who choose not to be vaccinated).

Well, I am in the camp with KayPam - masks will stay forever, since most of the people either do not care to protest or even feel safer withing confines of that 'COVID-theatre'.

I was flying transatlantic in a business class couple of times a year before COVID. SInce I feel incomfortable after 30 minutes in public transportation wearing mask, I do not plan to fly for as long as mask mandates would be in place.

I understand airlines do not care about my opinion, but on the other hand I do not plan to give them my money anytime soon.

Sholayo, To be fair I think that the airlines DO care about your opinion, but they are not mandating these rules. The only thing they can do is get together and challenge those who are responsible for imposing them.

You dont have to wear the mask whilst drinking or eating so just drink! I just found out I was wearing my mask backwards. I thought blue side in, white side out. But was told by a medic thats wrong?

Having flown between the US coasts a number of times this year, it has become routine with masks. Wearing a mask is considerate of others and protective of myself, and I have no problem with it whatsoever.

I actually double mask with a proper N95 under a nicely fitted cloth over-ear, and I don't eat or drink on the plane. The flight is actually the easy part - layovers and delays at the airport when unable to get fresh air really suck.

A few airports have outdoor terraces and it's much nicer to be there eating and drinking takeout and lounging than in the crowded club. If masks stick around forever I hope building outdoor areas on the secure side become a priority for airports, particularly the clubs.

As soon as any airline announces they would not enforce a mask policy I would only fly with that airline even if it cost me double or triple.

As a slight aside: once most of the general population has been vaccinated, surely only those who have not or otherwise feel vulnerable would need to wear masks? I know that a vaccinated person can still spread Covid, but surely that is a very good reason for all to be vaccinated ?

The anti-vaccers, (sp?), cannot expect the rest of us vaccinated souls to wear masks for ever just to protect them.

Even if you're vaccinated you can still catch, and transmit, Covid – you just don't get it as seriously as if you weren't vaccinated – especially the 'Delta variant' which is now everywhere.
The Possibility of COVID-19 after Vaccination: Breakthrough Infections

Remember also that some people are advised not to be vaccinated, eg those with severe allergic reactions or people with certain autoimmune conditions.

The safety provided by a vaccine is unfortunately not binary. It triggers a response in most people, not all. Vaccines aim primarily to reduce the number of deaths, and then the number who become seriously ill. I don't know of any vaccine that can prevent replication of a virus in the body of a person who picked up an infection, and can thus transmit to other people

We simply don't have the fabled magic weapon that the press sometimes like to portray - we have only something that is pretty good, not 100% perfection. There will inevitably be a need to add other layers of defence to protect a population as a whole

A mask is not worn primarily to protect you from others, but to protect others (particularly the vulnerable) from you.