Fauci Backs Continued Airliner Mask Mandate

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Dr. Anthony Fauci has suggested the airline mask mandate isn’t going anywhere soon. “We want to make sure people keep their masks on. I think the idea of taking masks off, in my mind, is really not something we should even be considering,” Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, told ABC’s This Week. Fauci also noted that airplanes are “reasonably safe” because of the mask mandate and the filtration systems that scrub the constantly changing air on airliners. The comment was in response from host Jonathan Karl about statements made by airline executives in a Senate hearing that seemed to suggest they’d like an end to mask mandate sooner rather than later.

His comments came a few days after Dr. David Powell, the medical adviser for the International Air Transport Authority, told Bloomberg that despite the generally better conditions on an airliner, the omicron variant has skewed the equation and the chances of catching COVID on an airplane have doubled or tripled. “The relative risk has probably increased, just as the relative risk of going to the supermarket or catching a bus has increased,” he said. He also said it’s probably safer to fly business class than coach if that’s an option.

Russ Niles
Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AVweb. He has been a pilot for 30 years and joined AVweb 22 years ago. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.

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33 COMMENTS

  1. The longer this mandate lasts with the airlines the longer the current growing, booming business for private, fractional, and pt135 charter will last. Job security for me and my fellow charter pilots!

    • Clearly, you don’t fly airliners nor have a clue how environmental systems work.

      There IS NO SAFER environment than an airliner at altitude. Never mind the fact masks DO NOT WORK.

      • My comment had nothing to do with airliner environmental safety. Since I am an A+P mechanic as well as a business jet pilot I do know how pressurization systems work. My comment is more on passenger presences, especially those with the money to be able to cover the cost of operating small business jets. Those persons who are completely fed up with the airlining experience are more and more turning to private aviation, whether Fractional (91K) or charter (pt135). Some are even going to the extent to actually buy their own private jet. My company being an aircraft management operation has a waiting list of clients who want to has us manage their airplane for them. With this kind of volume of business happening it makes for increased amount of job security for our pilots. As far as mask wearing in airplanes I read this response in another publication, “before boarding I will make sure to put on my Freddie Krueger mask. It may be of little use to stop the virus, but it sure works for social distancing”.

  2. “in my mind, is really not something we should even be considering,”

    People, in their own minds, have different opinions. My opinion is that the vast majority of masks do not stop viruses and are worn incorrectly. Reality is that, like airport security, it’s mostly theater to comfort the insecure.

      • You don’t need a degree to know that if you can smell through a mask then a virus can also pass through it. That, and thinking a virus won’t spread when removing your masks to eat/drink borders on lunacy. It’s theater for the insecure.

        • So you have confirmed that you know nothing about epidemiology or virology and you clearly understand nothing about measures put in place to limit transmission of pathogens. And somehow you think you know more than actual experts who have spents decades in the field. Hopefully your misguided views are not being seen beyond AvWeb.

          • The Danish study proved masks do not work in the real world. But, you’re welcomed to prove me wrong.

            Good luck with that.

        • Mr. Foyt,

          While I appreciate your efforts to explain the comparison something we might smell compared to the Covid virus, instead of citing the lack of degree needed, I encourage you to google the size of various objects.

          You will quickly discover (as doctors have known for more than a century) that the molecules that cause us to smell something, are much, much, much smaller than the Covid virus.

          Much has been written about SO2, because who doesn’t like a little humor in their explanation. Sulfur Dioxide, like many other odor causing molecules is less than 1 nanometer wide (0.3 nm to be specific). At its smallest, Covid is 60nm, more commonly around 120nm. And usually it is found in a droplet from our respiration which is anywhere from 4x to 350x larger than that.

          So as doctors have known for more than a century, you can smell many things through a mask (even a respirator), but that’s only because the odor molecules (perfume included) or hundreds of times smaller than the virus molecules that they are trying to avoid. Oh, and because it’s usually found in a droplet of water of some sort, masks have added effectiveness because of they also have a static charge which attracts the electrically charged water molecule.

          So all sorts of cool science that not only keeps my Lycoming producing power, wing producing lift, Garmin showing me directions and masks keeping me safe.

          • People wearing dust masks from Lowe’s and/or cloth masks are what you see people wearing (or partially wearing under their noses). Best science so far is they may help maybe 5-10%. That will go to zero as exposure times stretch into hours. So yea, unless you are clean shaven with a properly fitting N95 mask for a brief time; “mask” mandates are useless and only make people feel good,

      • > from which University did you complete your degree in epidemiology?

        Fauci is a habitual liar who has repeatedly refused to answer Senate oversight questions. We need more people to question what he says, and why he says it. I believe he’s engaged in a coverup of his own activities while still in office. Note that the NIH has full-time PR officers, yet Fauci is on video every day – why?

        The NIH has refuted what Fauci said to Congress about him not funding GoF research in Wuhan.

        More than 60,000 epidemiologists have signed the Stanford petition which says the opposite of Fauci’s approaches and mandates, since mid 2020.

        Fauci is at the center of the world’s biggest scandal of all time.

    • Masks do not stop the virus. The Danish study proved this.

      That study applied the use of mask in the real world. Never mind an airliner cabin is the cleanest environment possible, cleaner than most hospital ICUs and barely short of of that for integrated circuit clean rooms. This is especially true at altitude.

      • That Danish study was a very limited study that concluded that masks provided minimal protection to the wearer. We already knew that as early as April 2020. Bit that’s not the point of wearing a mask. Masks are highly effective at limiting transmission if the wearer is infected. In other words, you don’t wear a mask to avoid getting infected, you wear one to protect everyone around you in case you are infected. We have known this for almost two years and yet folks like you don’t seem to be getting the point. I guess it’s because the overwhelming majority of our culture doesn’t give a s*^T about anyone but themselves and the is one of the main problems in our society. Large problems require cooperation and a group effort to solve them, but in this me-first society where everyone loves to b*tch about “freedom” while at the same time stepping on the freedoms of everyone around them this is not possible.

        You can keep posting one-off studies like the Danish study and continue to keep missing the point of measures designed to limit transmission, but all you are doing is taking up permanent residence on the left side of the Dunning-Kruger curve. No one who posts here is an expert (myself included) so none of your opinions mean jack. I will put my trust in the Fauci’s of the world who are trained experts in their field and have decades of experience and credentials to back them up. I think they understand quite a bit more than Mr. Foyt who thinks that just because you can smell things through a mask means it doesn’t work. In fact that comment reminded me of another post here some time ago when someone else proclaimed that masks are dangerous because they cause you to inhale your old CO2 yet they can’t stop a virus because viruses are too small. That’s right, he said that a single CO2 molecule gets trapped in a mask, yet a virus that is composed of millions of more complex molecules go through a mask too easily. The level of medieval thinking in these circles is remarkable.

      • Mr. Lane, your repeated references to the Danish study over the past several months only demonstrate that you have never read the famous Danish study. If you had (easily googled, or here: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/full/10.7326/M20-6817) did not prove “masks don’t work.” In fact it didn’t even investigate the whether or not masks work as an effective physical barrier.

        What the Danish mask study investigated was whether or not as a public health measure, does the recommendation of wearing masks (outside the house) by the Danish health authorities reduce the transmission of the virus over other mitigation efforts such as social distancing. It specifically looked at areas where mask wearing was uncommon early in the pandemic.

        It concluded that early in the pandemic, encouraging people to wear masks, “did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate among wearers by more than 50% in a community with modest infection rates, some degree of social distancing, and uncommon general mask use.”

        The key is that the research said nothing about the effectiveness about masks themselves (they are effective and a quick google will show you more than 100 peer reviewed studies going back decades), it only addressed whether or not recommending mask wearing outside the house was effective. In other words, it addressed a public policy question, not a question of the physical capabilities of a mask.

        I encourage anybody to read the paper, it’s outdated by now, but still an interesting read with regards to the incredible efforts by the global science community to try and figure out how best to reduce the problems associated with the pandemic.

      • Mr. Lane, your repeated references to the Danish study over the past several months only demonstrate that you have never read the Danish study. If you had (easily googled, it’s in the Annals of Internal Medicine, author Henning Bundgaard), you would already know that the study didn’t even investigate the whether or not masks work as an effective physical barrier (they do, as doctors have known for decades, and thousands of peer reviewed research studies have demonstrated, also going back decades).

        What the Danish mask study investigated was whether or not as a public health measure, does the recommendation of wearing masks (outside the house) by the Danish health authorities reduce the transmission of the virus over other mitigation efforts such as social distancing. It specifically looked at areas where mask wearing was uncommon early in the pandemic. Again, it addresses whether the RECOMMENDATION was effective.

        It concluded that early in the pandemic, encouraging people to wear masks, “did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate among wearers by more than 50% in a community with modest infection rates, some degree of social distancing, and uncommon general mask use.”

        The key is that the research said nothing about the effectiveness about masks themselves (again, long accepted as effective by hundreds of thousands of doctors/researchers over the years). It only addressed whether or not recommending mask wearing outside the house was effective (turns out not everybody followed the recommendation, reducing the effectiveness). In other words, it addressed a public policy question, not a question of the physical capabilities of a mask.

        Everybody should be encouraged to read the actual paper. It’s out of date by now since dozens of other peer reviewed studies have shown that not only are masks a physically effective barrier, but recommending/requiring them is also effective (see study from Kansas of two adjacent counties, one requiring, one not, guess which has the higher infection/hospitalization/death rate). But it’s still an interesting read with regards to the incredible efforts by the global science community to try and figure out how best to reduce the problems associated with the pandemic.

  3. It is all about controlling people. The government and media could not care less about the, “Science”. With OMICRON, never has so inconsequential of a, “varient” caused such deliberate media panic. Nobody is dying from it and as one Israeli scientist has said, COVID may have just mutated itself into the common cold and will die out.

  4. After the mentally ill asshats that currently run the federal government are sent packing next Nov this crap will end. Maybe a bit sooner if they see their poll numbers crashing.

  5. Everyone should remember that the er… person who is making the current announcement is none other than Anthony Fauci who has at one time or another espoused just about every possible option as being either helpful or worthless including masks, public exposure, dining out, etc. No one but a fool (See Torres above) would buy what the government and Fauci are currently selling. As for the trained epidemiologists virologists and medical docs, most of them have also gotten it wrong and mouthed off based upon their political bias not their training or understanding of the science. Whatever Trump said he got from Fauci and they were both asses. Now that the current incompetent is also vomiting Fauci, he is somehow forgiven for all the terrible things that have been imposed on the country.

  6. Masks would have to be less effective in aircraft given the lack of social distancing but from the start a fair bit of their benefit (IMO) has been the constant reminder that we’re in a pandemic situation in which our hygiene behaviour has serious consequences. I’m surprised there wasn’t some serious work done last year on bathing the cabin and/or HVAC and airpacks with UV light. I’d rather wear gawky, blue-blocker-style sunglasses than a mask – those things still annoy me.

  7. What is the argument here about anyway? What emotions are being aroused in Mr. Foyt and others who insist on proclaiming their own viewpoints, which then extend into bashing professionals and either misinterpreting or misunderstanding the issues they cite? Would they also bash professional ATP rated pilots so vociferously?
    This isn’t about masks. It’s about something else, possibly some overblown fear of government? or loss of personal freedom? or????
    I really wish these writers would share their feelings, which can’t be all that joyful, about the pandemic, masks, illness, and the invisible to the naked eye, yet very real sociopolitical and environmental threats that face everyone. Instead of blaming the very persons who are trained to understand and cope as best as they can with these issues.

    • The “professionals” have actively censored some research results and actively called valid questions to be “misinformation”. They also pushed lies that the vaccines were actually what people expected from a vaccine. The so-called professionals have NOT earned trust by doing these things.

      • You conflate different things.

        Certainly many people are censoring and ranting ‘misinformation’, some of them supposedly professional.

        Both you and ‘Rich K’ misuse the word ‘professional’ by casting it over everyone – fact is that many experienced epidemiologists have spoken up in opposition to some things like ‘lockdowns’ quoting historical fact.

        But you peddle a strange notion that people lied about vaccines. While some people gloss over the small amount of risk that needs to be watched and ignored the possibility that mutation of the SARS2 virus would reduce effectiveness of vaccines given that it is a cousin of INFLUENZA, your side lies about vaccines. You shot down your credibility some time ago in AvWeb threads and continue to do so.

        A pox on both your houses.

        • > But you peddle a strange notion that people lied about vaccines.

          The current Biden administration narrative is that “vaccines” are 100% effective and that natural immunity doesn’t count, which has been disseminated on MSM (see MSNBC Rachel Maddow’s hysterical segment about vaccines being 100% effective.) You can still get and transmit corona after “vaccination.”

          Of course, that means these are not vaccines by any historical definition.

      • Yes, flipflopping faker Fauci was exposed as lying about funding research and even admits he lies about things like level of vaccination for society immunity to motivate people to get vaccinated. BidentTrump are too dense to turf him,

        As for ‘freedom’ that ‘Rich K’ raised, it is a valid question to approach with perspective – which both the Chicken Little and Alfred E. Neuman camps do not discuss rationally. Quarantine is morally supportable for serious risks to others, in driving and flying we yank licenses, in crimes we incarcerate, for example. It is done with disease but morally must be done very very carefully. You might check what is done with hard measles and meningitis, outbreaks in Vancouver WA and the Fraser Valley of BC in recent years spread in schools, both areas have signficant population of religious avoiders of vaccination.

        Control freak officials throw obsessive shotgun policies around instead of clearly describing risk factors. They evade that life is far more than avoidance of disease, they evade the productivity needed for life. They evade the huge collateral damage of their behaviour, with people dying waiting for surgery and from delays in diagnosis and treatment of cancer – as happened almost two years ago because ‘modelling’ failed as it usually does.

        Tragic is the young woman with a transplanted organ who pondered vaccination because of conflicting advice, despite her suppressed immune system – she dithered until she contracted COVID-19 and died.

        Paranoid individuals get politicians pandering to them instead of looking at the full picture. Some people on your side are plain whacko. I say ‘a pox on all your houses’.

        If I owned an airline I would only transport people who were fully vaccinated and I would not sell centre seats. And now with a highly transmissible but mild virus about I would require use of masks to reduce risk of transmission even though risk of hospitalization from the mutated virus is much lower for vaccinated people than with earlier variants. And I note that airlines have long been cautious about transporting people with serious heart conditions.

  8. Falsie can mask with my buttocks. There is no one more inept for that position. Omicold is no more of a threat than any cold. Yes, colds are capable of causing death but we have never shut down life for fear of catching one. Hopefully, when saner people are in charge, those who have pushed this fear porn of covid will be held accountable and given long prison terms for their damage to society.

  9. Really,i dont know if masks help(stop whatever new mutant is out there),but when i fly commercial nowadays(unless my hearing is going)i sure dont hear anyone coughing or sneezing.I heard of a couple living as recluses who caught the virus or one of the mutants,how?So maybe i could catch it from?pretzels?Trying to buy some auto parts the other day,no mask,no service.Managed to find a mask for a dollar down the road and complete buisness.Returning a couple days later,of course sporting my trusty mask,no one is wearing a mask.What are you doing wearing a mask,the new command is you dont need to.Ok,wearing it due to the air quality.

    • Very few sick people would fly somewhere due cost of care and return if got worse.

      However, a few people have concealed their illness just to get home.

  10. Thoughtful comments, Keith.

    ‘I really wish these writers would share their feelings…’

    The delusion is that they probably think they are, as in validating your questions in order to avoid answering them, as Mr. Foyt has done here. ‘Hoisted by his own petard’ one could say, yet seemingly oblivious to doing it.

    On these threads, in politics, schools, churches and throughout social media, the spawning of bullies in need of a cause is desperately trying to take hold, in my view. The simple observation that respect for others is never a part of their expressions is enough for me to see their intent. They’ve hitched their wagon to fear, so these bullies are unable to offer anything good, kind or constructive for the benefit of all. If given the opportunity their angry run from fear will subsume everything — like kudzu and crazy worms taking over a garden and destroying it.

    As a result of a tsunami in recent years of lies, denials and alternate facts and realities, etc., an unleashing of false perceptions of losing freedoms, losing group identities, losing cultural attachments washed on shore. Contrast that with a growing social awareness of injustices, inequalities and inequities from worldwide fingertip access to information and there are now social issues we have to confront that, like the virus, are very challenging and morphing so fast even our best and brightest are stretched wafer thin to address them.

    From this fractured instability our culture today now confuses with freedom an infantile, even sociopathic self-centeredness and disregard for others’ needs and concerns. Everyone different is the enemy for their rage. Until Americans develop (or redevelop) some sense of collective responsibility for the wellbeing of all, I fear we will continue to decline into who knows what. That’s not a Liberal view, it’s a human one.

    And on that cheerful note, I wish everyone good health and beautiful New Mexico-like skies to fly in for the new year. Try to be kind to each other, after all it really is a good life.

  11. Since September we have been filling football stadiums both college and pro with tens of thousands of people. In many cases well over a hundred thousand per stadium. From the beginning of the season well over tens of millions of people packed together, shoulder to shoulder in may cases half naked screaming their lungs out for better than three hours not counting the pre and post parties and not a single person could be seen wearing a mask. Giant Petri dishes for continuous super spreader events and nothing happened. No mass covid breakouts. No nothing. Because, if there was the slightest hint of a breakout the media would have it plastered all over the place. They were waiting for it and were sorely disappointed nothing happened. They were such non events the media couldn’t even fabricate a breakout. So what happened? Can someone please explain this to me. It went on for weeks, months, completely unabated and not the slightest hint of a breakout. And, not a mask in sight. Again, somebody explain this to me.

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