Cabin air what is best

[HF63]

If you flown recently, what did you do with the cabin air??


Did you turn it off or adjust to the flow directly or above your face??


I finally decided to fly and visit my Mom(2 years) since it appears there will never be a perfect time to fly. My friend was skeptical on flying and his father pass away hard pill to swallow.




Yes, I am wearing mask, face shield, and gloves.

 

[braumeister]

We've flown half a dozen times in the last year and I always adjust the vent to blow at max volume across my face. Cabin air is well filtered.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

We've flown half a dozen times in the last year and I always adjust the vent to blow at max volume across my face. Cabin air is well filtered.

I did the same when I had to fly shortly before we all quarantined, for the same reason. The air coming through the vents is supposedly either filtered or drawn directly from outside, I forget which.

 

[Sunset]

I always have the air blow across or just in front of my face.
I think the cabin air is a mix of filtered and fresh air and they use Hepa filters so that is like a hospital.
I read once the cabin air is filtered 20x during an avg flight, which is great!

I do hope they change the filter regularly !

I'm going to fly soon and will wear a mask, but no shield and no gloves. We do have alcohol to spray on hands to sterilize, and always have wiped down the arm-rests, tray etc as soon as we sit down.

 

[yhoomajor]

IMHO, I am skeptic that Cabin air is well filtered. There is a reason most new flight attendants are constantly sick for first couple of months when they join. Because they get introduced to all the pathogens floating in the aluminium tube. Over time they build immunity and then they move on from this stage.

If outside air was the only (100%) intake for every cycle of cabin air, then yeah, t would be very safe. But it's not. They only take fresh air every couple of minutes. Rest of the time it just re-circulates all the air that people are coughing and sneezing in plane. And for some reason.. lot of people do that in a plane.

Coming back to filter itself. Tubes that carry air are rarely cleaned. But someone can correct me if they know how often the lines carrying air are cleaned. Who knows what kind of pathogens are growing in those air-tubes, inside and on surface connections.

As for HEPA filtration rating.. how often are they replaced? Also, high speed of Cabin nozzle air, causes low pressure around that air, pulling air from around it (air mixed with cough and sneeze). So there is that. I always turn off the air vent when I fly. It doesn't spare me from getting infected.. but I try shallower breathing during the flight so that most of the pathogens are absorbed in upper respiratory system (more like wishful thinking.. but seems to work mostly. not always though if I am sitting next to someone who is very sick).

 

[Sunset]

pathogens like viruses don't grow on surfaces, they die off after a while.

flight attendants are in contact with the stuff people are all touching, it's easy to pick up cold viruses that way, then they go and share hotel rooms in distant cities, so if one has a cold , it spreads.

Again, it's the Hepa filter replacement that would be key.

 

[yhoomajor]

Pathogens - there are of several kind. Virus may die on their own on the surface if not moved. But high speed of air would make them move towards the air flow.

I had low immunity growing up as a kid (falling sick every other week) and I have done most of these tricks. (wash your hands, don't touch anything, or touch with tissue paper) etc.

If I learned anything over decades.. primary way of these virus get to you is via airways. Not by touching (just my experience though). You can touch the virus with your hand all you want.. but as long as you don't stick your finger in your nose, those virus may die on their own on the skin and get washed when you wash hands thoroughly.

And its not just flight attendants who fall sick in airplanes (although they do get sick constantly for first few months). Passengers do get sick as well. Many frequent flyers with below normal immunity who know and have been through this, take Energen-c or other vitamins.

 

[HF63]

It seems like there is no best practice approach since there are too many variables which are unknown. I'll see what I diced to do base on the number of passengers, the flight takes off at 3 am, hoping for a low turn out.

 

[braumeister]

I've been on probably at least 1,000 flights in my life, but I can only remember three times that I got sick afterwards, so IMHO the risk is small. I realize that those with compromised immune systems are at much greater risk, but most of us shouldn't worry too much.

 

[Ronstar]

I havent flown since COVID but will soon. I’ll wear a mask per req’s, no face shield or gloves. It’ll be tough wearing a mask 7-8 hours non stop.

I haven’t thought about the air vent. DW will probably have hers on high. And she’ll totally disinfect all surfaces around our seats like she has for years.

 

[HF63]

Like for me the flight is only 4 hrs, 3 am to 7am!

 

[USGrant1962]

Over half of the air coming out of the vent above your head is fresh, outside air. The remainder is HEPA filtered. Filters are changed on a regular maintenance schedule or when blocked. Older, clogged filters work just as well as filters, but they take more energy to push the air through. How often they are changed has little/nothing to do with their filtration efficiency.

Like braumeister, I probably have 1,500 flights in the last 15 years, and cannot attribute more than, maybe, one or two colds to flying. Always fly with your vent(s) open, otherwise you are directly breathing unfiltered, undiluted air from neighboring passengers.

 

[camfused]

This reminds me of when my dad, an aircraft mechanic, was asked in (I think it was) the 70s to change a filter on a plane. Back in those days, people still smoked on planes. He said the filter (which was supposed to be white) was dark brown, and dripping with tobacco juice. He said this sight should have made any smoker stop, instantly.

 

[Gremlin]

For the last 20 years, I have flown monthly for work and did so throughout COVID shutdowns. I always have the air directed right at my face as it is the freshest air you are going to find on a plane! FYI the planes have been very crowded this summer, but of course that will depend on where you are flying from\to. Good luck!!

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I am all about the gasper air (the actual nomenclature for that little adjustable vent above your head) and in the AF, we called it the "fart deflector"

Over half of the air coming out of the vent above your head is fresh, outside air. The remainder is HEPA filtered. Filters are changed on a regular maintenance schedule or when blocked.

Pretty general statement. There are a lot of airliners out there of varying models/years and have different systems for cabin air. It also depends on the operating procedures of the specific airlines and how the cabin pressurization is set by the crew as the flow "percentages" can be adjusted on some airplanes. On one of the planes I crewed, you were able to take the AC out of "auto" mode to get a cooler air going through the gasper vents.

This reminds me of when my dad, an aircraft mechanic, was asked in (I think it was) the 70s to change a filter on a plane. Back in those days, people still smoked on planes. He said the filter (which was supposed to be white) was dark brown, and dripping with tobacco juice. He said this sight should have made any smoker stop, instantly.

Yep. This is a picture of an outflow valve where cabin air exits. It will adjust the size of the opening to regulate the pressure within the cabin and it was common for nicotine (the dark brown streak seen here) to gum up the valve and cause pressurization issues. My Dad (former Eastern Airlines flight engineer in the 50's and 60s) told many stories related to nicotine issues.