United Airlines has recently said “the risk of COVID-19 exposure onboard its aircraft is “virtually non-existent” after a new study finds that when masks are worn there is only a 0.003% chance particles from a passenger can enter the passenger’s breathing space who is sitting beside them.” In other words, you’re more likely to get struck by lightning than to catch the virus on a plane when traveling.
According to ABCnews.com, the study was conducted by the Department of Defense in partnership with United Airlines, and was published Thursday. They reportedly ran 300 tests in a little over six months with a mannequin on a United plane. The mannequin was equipped with an aerosol generator that allowed technicians to replicate breathing and coughing. 180 million particles were released on each test – which studied the way the mannequin’s particles moved inside the cabin with a mask on and off.
“99.99% of those particles left the interior of the aircraft within six minutes,” United Airlines Chief Communication Officer Josh Earnest told ABC News. “It indicates that being on board an aircraft is the safest indoor public space, because of the unique configuration inside an aircraft that includes aggressive ventilation, lots of airflow.”
“At United, but also at our large competitors, our flight attendants have lower COVID infection rates than the general population, which is one of multiple data points that speaks to the safety on board airplanes,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said during a Politico event.
Among 1.2 billion travelers, only 44 published cases of potential inflight transmission occurred. Most of those 44 cases occurred in the early days of the pandemic when masks were not required while traveling.
With air travel being down 70% compared to last year, there is still a long way to go to make people feel comfortable enough to get on a plane. However, as studies show, travelers should feel a lot more safer when getting on/off a plane. Wear your mask. Continue to be safe. And feel free to get onboard because we all deserve a vacation.
