I Have Flown A Lot During The Pandemic

Today I want to talk about flying during coronavirus, a topic that really divides opinion. I have flown quite a lot during the pandemic, definitely not as much as I normally would fly, but certainly more than a lot of people.

A lot of people have not caught a flight since March. And the general thinking is, an airplane is a place where you are at high risk of catching COVID-19. And certainly there was some evidence at the start of the pandemic, that COVID-19 transmission had occurred on board planes. Now, this was before airlines had come up with a new safety protocol to prevent the spread, or certainly, to reduce the risk of transmission.

What we know now is that the odds of catching COVID-19 on a plane are very, very slim, certainly a lot slimmer than you might think. Airplanes have really quite incredible and advanced air filtration systems. They have some of the best ventilation systems and filter systems there are anywhere, in anything. And the studies now really show — the peer-reviewed studies, including one from the US Department of Defense — that these advanced filtration systems who filter the air and take out particles that could transmit viruses.

Certainly in the past, there were studies on the spread of TB and other diseases on airplanes, that proved the same thing, that you will not catch a disease simply from being on the plane. Like it won’t transmit from a passenger on the back row to you on the front row.

Of course there are risks on planes, just like there are risks if you go on a train, if you go on a bus, if you use any public toilets, you know, everywhere you go now, there can be a risk of COVID-19 transmission. You could be in a cafe or restaurant. You could be on any public transport, even in a taxi, you can be sat somewhere where a passenger previously sat and that passenger has COVID and then it was on a surface and it was passed to you.

I mean, that is a risk that we now must live with, in a world of pandemic. And that’s the same risk you will have on a plane. If there’s been a passenger with COVID-19, they’ve used the toilet, later you use the toilet, yes, you could pick up some of those particles. Just like you would do in a shop, a cafe, even on the streets or on a park bench.

Airlines Are Doing More Than You Imagine

What we see now with planes is, they really take this seriously. Airlines are going bankrupt. Airlines are doing more than you can imagine to stem the flow of coronavirus, because if they don’t, no one will fly, and the airline will disappear. So you’ll see now that wearing a face mask is mandatory in airports and on a flight, which is great. Whether you agree or don’t agree with wearing face masks, whether you say there’s no evidence for it — for me, it’s obvious if you wear a mask, you don’t release particles. So it’s not that you are less likely to pick up the virus, but you’re less likely to spread it. So ultimately, if everybody wears a mask they’re less likely to spread particles to other passengers.

One of the big changes that’s been made is the boarding and disembarking process. Which is actually great, because one of the things that always made me laugh about flying was, as soon as the plane lands, while the seatbelt sign is still on, everybody stands up. And everybody is, you know, the person with the window seat is craning because they can’t stand up properly. And everyone stood up fighting to get into the narrow alleyway faster.

I always thought it was really bizarre that people did that, but now they don’t. Now they don’t do that. So, on a flight, embarking and disembarking happens by row. So as you disembark, the first row disembarks, everyone else stays seated. And that prevents this unnecessary cramming together, at a time when there could be more risk of spreading the virus.

An Airplane Is As Safe As Any Other Place

The other thing that planes have really done well, along with countries, is implement recording some tests and trace, really. So, when you land in most countries, you have to give the flight attendant your seat number and the contact details, so you can be contacted if later it turns out somebody on the flight was infectious.

There’s also much deeper cleaning. You can smell how much they’ve cleaned the plane, when you get on. There’s this smell that you get — sometimes when you go into the changing rooms of swimming baths, they have a really strong smell — because everything has been disinfected and they’ve done a deep clean between flights rather than just at the end of the day.

And that is coupled with the evidence from many studies, including by the US Department of Defense that show ventilation systems filter air efficiently. And for me, that shows a plane is no more risky than the other things you do in everyday life.

And if you’re uncomfortable with being out in public, being out in cafes, restaurants, on a bus, on a train, then yes, of course it’s not right. You won’t feel comfortable flying. But if you are comfortable going to a restaurant, go into a bar, go into public places, using any other public transport, including a taxi or an Uber, an airplane is not any more risk.

And you shouldn’t see it as anything more risky than what you do in your everyday life. I can say this mostly because I’ve flown a lot during COVID and I’ve seen the changes they’ve made and the advancements they’ve made and what they’ve done to really fight our corner, to make passengers safe and to make flying safe.

I’ve been really impressed with what airlines do. And I really hope that in the coming months, people feel confident to travel and to use planes like they did before. Because for me it’s the same risk as anything we do now in this world of living in a pandemic.