Wearing A Mask Onboard Is The Right Thing And Helps The Economy

Airplanes are not designed for social distancing. Leaving middle seats empty might make someone feel better, but doesn’t change the fact the people across the aisle, in front, and behind are much closer than six feet. On April 27, 2020, JetBlue became the first US airline to require facial coverings for passengers and crew onboard. Since then, most airlines have followed suit but enforcement has been far from consistent. In my recent experience, I have seen customers take their masks off while onboard for no obvious reason other than perhaps comfort (not for eating, for example).

I’ve heard arguments from as passive as ‘it’s uncomfortable’ to the more aggressive ‘it’s not a law’ to the confrontative ‘it’s a free country.’ Does something need to be a law to control unsafe behavior? Without speed limits, who would feel it is their right to barrel down a busy city street at 80 miles an hour? Or without a law, who would suggest that their freedom allows them to get rip roaring drunk and then go driving? The fact is that we willingly give up lot of freedoms in order to protect ourselves and others. This is not collectivism, as some have claimed about mask wearing on a plane. Collectivism means giving a group priority over individuals in the group. Wearing a mask protects both the wearer and others in a close environment like a commercial airplane cabin.

Flight attendants are put into a first responder’s role in any kind of accident or incident, and at these times they work to save the lives of others even at risk of their own. So what ego must one have to say that they don’t need to wear a mask, even though they could potentially be an asymptomatic carrier of the coronavirus, and infect the very people there to protect them (not to mention other passengers?).

Yes, you can find doctors who say masks don’t help and may not be necessary. But these opinions are in the minority and don’t match the broader and accountable medical institutions and agencies. Even so, would you really want a doctor to operate on you now without wearing a mask? Or of someone coughs in front of you without a mask on, are you really going to say that there is nothing uncomfortable about that?

Those who “test the system” by taking off their masks onboard are not likely to come into confrontation onboard, as no inflight crew is going to put themselves in that potentially dangerous situation. So, they will get away with it until at least some other passenger asks, and even then this can be ignored too. But this is a selfish, puerile act and doesn’t make them right or justified in their behavior.

Airlines have recently stepped up their statements about enforcing their onboard masks rules, and the industry’s lobby group, the Airlines for America, has provided good guidance and guidelines that supports the TSA also. The better thing, though, is for everyone who flies to respect the situation and be happy that they can still fly even with a hopefully temporary accommodation to the current environment. I have flown several times in the last few weeks, and I don’t particularly enjoy wearing a mask. But I also have found that it’s not a big deal, and rather than let myself be bothered by it I just wear it and forget about it. Yes, I’ll remove it when off the plane and not around other people, but pop it back on again when in close quarters again. This doesn’t make me any kind of lemming or sheep. It makes me a human being who thinks about the world around me along with thinking about myself. Isn’t that what we all should be doing? I wear glasses too and can deal with the fogging.

The airline industry is critical for the economy, and people continuing to feel uncomfortable on a plane is certainly going to dampen a demand recovery. For people to feel confident about flying again, they need to feel safe, and seeing that everyone wears a mask will help that. So yet another reason to wear the mask onboard is to encourage more people to fly, bring back more flights, and get the economy moving again. It’s the right thing for individuals and for the group.