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USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION
UP FRONT | TRAVEL
Breathe Easy Air on planes is safer than in homes or operating rooms
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By Chris Woodyard
A
2020 STUDY CONDUCTED
for the Department of Defense adds credence to the growing belief that airline passengers are not likely to contract COVID-19 when flying. The study found the risk of aerosol dispersion was reduced 99.7 percent thanks to high air exchange rates, HEPA-filtered recirculation and downward ventilation found on modern jets. Investigators looked at the impact of an infected passenger on those seated nearby in the cabins of Boeing 767s and 777s. Those two aircraft types are wide-bodies typically used for long-haul flights where a virus could be expected to spread more easily. To test the exposure risk for passengers sitting near an infected person, researchers released fluorescent tracer aerosols representing the droplets released by exhaling or coughing and
reduce viral exposure. In fact, the study looked at the impact on multiple “breathfound that contamination in the aircraft ing zones” throughout the aircraft. More was less than what is found in private than 11,500 breathing zone seat measureresidences. ments were taken with releases from 46 With the airflow from ceiling to floor, different seats. “There is no place indoors that “The reality is those tests it is anywhere close to that” are indicative of what hapwhen it comes to limiting pens on every airplane. An airthe spread of the virus, Kirby craft is just a remarkably safe TIP: During air says. He urged other airlines environment,” says United to emulate United’s policy Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. travel, keep the vents of making sure power units The study’s team included operate in a way that allows members from United, Boeing, above your seat open passengers to take advantage the University of Nebraska of aircraft ventilation systems Medical Center, National at all times to improve while still at the gate. Strategic Research Institute Kirby also urged passengers and other research firms. ventilation. to make sure that their It was prepared for the U.S. overhead vents are fully Transportation Command and open during their flights to the Air Force’s Air Mobility maximize air circulation. Command. On most planes, the air exchange rate The study reinforces the message is approximately every three minutes, that airlines have been trying to convey and 75 percent comes from outside the that HEPA filters and high turnover plane, meaning that only 25 percent of rates of airflow in passenger cabins
cabin air is recirculated. “The 767 and 777 both removed particulate 15 times faster than a home ... and five to six times faster than recommended design specifications for modern hospital operating or patient isolation rooms,” according to the study. Tests were conducted by placing instruments that can measure particles in proximity to a simulated sick passenger. The study took masks into consideration, factoring that passengers might be wearing the type of surgical masks handed out by airlines. Airline bookings dropped sharply after COVID-19 started infecting millions around the world in the belief that spending hours in cabins in close proximity to other passengers could easily spread the virus. Carriers have tried to allay passengers’ concerns and protect aircrew members’ health by requiring masks, mandating social distancing and instituting other precautions.
