Masks potentially serve two purposes:
- To protect the wearer from other people if you want protection from Covid-19 at this point, it needs to be an N95 mask or better.
- To protect others from you in case you are shedding virus, a mask may cut down on the amount of virus you’re exhaling (although cloth masks may not serve this purpose but were acceptable under airline and federal rules).
Since there’s no longer a federal transportation mask mandate, and airlines have lifted their own mask requirements, if you wish you can wear almost any mask you choose.
It used to be that masks with valves for easier breathing weren’t allowed because those still had you exhaling into the airport and into the aircraft cabin. If there was a valve the mask did nothing to protect others from you. But with no mask rules in place, there aren’t specifications as to which masks satisfy those rules. You can now wear a mask with a valve.
There has been a lot of confusion during the pandemic about how the virus spreads, and how to protect yourself from it. Six feet was never enough distance, and the CDC knew that from the start. It was clear that the virus spread via aerosols since at least February 2020 (the Seattle choir, the South Korean call center, the restaurant in China) but the public health establishment wouldn’t recognize this.
Unsurprisingly there’s confusion at the front line – when air travel was one of the only places left masking, flight attendants were asked to become the enforcers. And they took a much harder line at American Airlines than, say, at United where most cabin crew just wrote up infractions rather than engaging in direct conflict with passengers.
And flight attendants aren’t experts. They don’t keep up with policies. They frequently don’t keep up with policies on service flow (predeparture beverages!). It can be tough to keep up with mask rules, or what the lifting of masking requirements changes.
And so we have this:
I am traveling to a funeral service for a family member and trying hard to protect the at-risk attendees. I have and am wearing a back-up non-vented N95, but would prefer to wear my elastomeric respirator which seals more tightly and has P100 filters.
— Riley Avron (@rileyavron) July 16, 2022
Great question! Only medical respirators can be worn and used while inflight.
— americanair (@AmericanAir) July 16, 2022
Without regard to this specific mask, bear in mind that American does not allow the following: “Personal face / body tents” “Personal face / body pods” “Personal air purifiers / refreshers” “Ozone generators.” The airline does not allow items it deems ‘recreational” or that would impede evacuation of the aircraft.
If the passenger was given a hard time over this mask because of the vent and for no other reason then my guess in this case is that (1) a flight attendant remembered the old rule about no masks with vents were allowed (that a vented mask did not satisfy the federal masking requirement, or the airline’s own requirement before that) and (2) the twitter team focuses on this specific mask suggesting it may violate the rule over too much personal protective equipment, while recognizing that a surgical respirator would be acceptable.
In practice this mask isn’t as scary or as cumbersome as it looks in the tweet. People wear P100 masks with respirators all the time. And the way they did it when there was still a masking requirement that banned valves? They stuck a cloth mask over the valve and that was compliant.
If you want to wear more than just a mask with a valve that will often fall underneath an airline’s accessibility rules, here’s United’s.
You may carry and use portable electronic personal ventilators, respirators and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines on board our flights if a manufacturer’s label or other documentation can confirm that the units meet FAA requirements.
We require a 48-hour minimum advance notification to our Accessibility Desk (1-800-228-2744) if you will be using a ventilator, respirator or CPAP machine on board your flight.
You can now choose the level of protection you’re comfortable with when flying, and in most areas of life, but there’s generally no longer a mandate for how others must protect you. For those at high risk that increases the need for good quality masking.
Hey Gary how about never having a mask story again – ever. Let’s exterminate the idea.
Perhaps the wrong reason was given, but the respirator presented by the poster seems would impede them from using the oxygen mask in case if they were deployed.
The primary purpose of the mask is to protect others from your potential viral load. A vented mask, designed to protect only inbound air flow, does not prevent viral droplets or particles from spreading. No matter how elaborate, AA was right in denying it for flight.
@ptahcha – The American Airlines safety video/presentation prior to each flight indicates one is to remove their mask/respirator in case the oxygen masks are deployed.
Covid confusion crap? Bored
@ Hawthorn your comment shows your lack of understanding of the matter. A well fitted N95 is perfectly suited to protect you from viral airborne particles.
@Hawthorn except you don’t have to wear a mask at all anymore (no protection for anyone) = no cover for your valve (ie mouth). This is the absurdity of the AA decision since they’re denying a person the ability to protect themselves (and by extension, others that they’ll be seeing post-travel) because it’s not a less effective disposable N95 mask or, far worse, a cloth mask. At this point when fewer folks are wearing masks the objective is to protect yourself, not others. This country doesn’t do public health – there’s no we in America, only me and I.
“No one cared who I was until I put on the mask.”
I *think* I got covid again on a recent domestic flight — two hours and packed out. Sure enough, I got the slightly sore throat and cough and the second red line was there but very faint, faint enough such that it falls into ‘ambiguous’ territory, but there none the less and definitely not one clear red line.
I forgot about it a day later. That would have been my fourth dance with covid if indeed the test was positive.
Not testing again. I need to keep these kits for overseas travel. No need blowing 40 euro when you know it’s going to be positive.
@Hawthorn: Passengers in the U.S. are not currently required to wear a face mask to protect other travelers from contracting respiratory diseases. When passengers wear a respirator with an exhalation valve, the outcome and protection are the same as wearing no face mask. Furthermore, CPAP users can exhale or inhale cabin air through their face masks without a valve. CPAP machines are permitted for use on aircraft.
Here is the language from the Travel Compliance Letter for ResMed Therapy Devices. “To whom it may concern, ResMed respiratory assistive devices (ventilators, respirators, and CPAP machines) are medical devices prescribed for use on or by the order of a physician and are cleared for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a branch of the Federal Government of the United States of America, and the Australian Therapeutics Goods Administration. The devices do not contain any parts or materials known to cause or interfere with the safe operation of a commercial aircraft. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Final Rule, “Non-discrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel” (73 FR 27614 which updates Title 14 CFR Part 382), effective May 13, 2009, provides important new requirements for the accommodation of passengers with respiratory assistive devices. Specifically, respiratory assistive devices may be used on board an aircraft, without further testing by the carrier, provided they have been tested for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) in accordance with the current version of RTCA/DO-160, Section 21, Category M. ResMed has successfully completed testing for the respiratory assistive devices described in this letter. The devices listed below comply with RTCA/DO-160G, Section 21, Category M, and are considered FAA compliant. This information may be engraved on the device or a sticker label applied to the device; either method for identifying FAA compliance is acceptable and in accordance with DOT regulations.”
@Hawthorn — are you claiming that a vented mask is less safe for others on the flight? Why would a vented mask be prohibited when you’re free not to wear a mask at all? That’s absurd.
I agree with David Stone.
You don’t want to wear a mask? Fine. Don’t. I don’t care at this point. However, don’t tell me I can’t wear one if I want to. If my mask scares you, that’s your problem. It’s really simple.
I’m with David. No more mask stories. C’mon man. I’m not telling my age but I’m not liiving what’s left of my life in a mask. It went on entirely too long. I complied for nearly two years. I’m done.
Seriously, – if I (or a loved one who lives with me) am at risk for complications if I get COVID, why should my wearing a mask bother anybody? And why would it even be questioned?
ññ
Please continue with mask stories. I am immunocompromised and when I fly, I need to protect myself and other at-risk people I am traveling to visit. These stories are valuable to me so I know what to expect.
Unless one could supply scientific evidence that a vented mask results in higher number of viral particles in the shared air, it does seem preposterous that they would be disallowed.
My emotional support dog wears a K-9 5N and the FA’s have never complained