Airlines to Congress: Masks Don't Add Much, If Anything, to Safety

Doug Mainwaring : Dec 23, 2021
LifeSiteNews

"We filter the air 20 to 30 times an hour and a typical ICU is two to three times an hour. Aircraft are a remarkably safe environment … being next to someone on an airplane, sitting next to them, is the equivalent of being 15 feet away from them in a typical building." -- United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby

(Washington, DC) — [Lifesitenews.com] The CEOs of two of the four largest U.S. airlines surprised Democrat members of the U.S. Senate when they testified that mask mandates are unnecessary on board commercial flights.

"The case is very strong that masks don't add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment," said Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing. "It is very safe and very high quality compared to any other indoor setting."

"I concur," added American Airlines CEO Doug Parker. "An aircraft is the safest place you can be. It's true of all of our aircraft – they all have the same HEPA filters and air flow."

Although United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby didn't address the utility of airline mask mandates, he was the first to speak about the unparalleled safety that modern commercial aircraft provide via high quality air filtration systems.

"The airplane is the safest place you can be indoors," declared Kirby. "Safer, actually, than an intensive care unit."

"We filter the air 20 to 30 times an hour and a typical ICU is two to three times an hour," he explained. "Aircraft are a remarkably safe environment … being next to someone on an airplane, sitting next to them, is the equivalent of being 15 feet away from them in a typical building."

"99.97 percent of airborne pathogens are captured by the HEPA filtering system and is turned over every two to three minutes," agreed Southwest's Kelly.

Even liberal CNN seemed to concur, reporting that "high-grade HEPA air filters on planes capture virtually all airborne contamination and air quality is helped by how frequently cabin air is exchanged with fresh air from outside the cabin."

A Twitter user who describes himself as having a Biomedical engineering/cardiovascular biomechanics background quoted CNN, adding, "This is why the fear of COVID during plane travel is completely irrational."

Masks create tension and controversy on airline flights

In January, the New York Times described 2020 as "a year of perpetual chaos" for flight attendants, fueled primarily by the stringent masking requirements creating an "us versus them" – passenger versus airline personnel – and sometimes masked versus unmasked passenger – mentality.

The masks that airline travelers and employees are now required to wear have frequently been the cause of tension and controversy during commercial flights. Since the start of the pandemic …

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