Air Canada pilots are finally allowed to fly while bearded
 

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/2...-pilot-beards/

Air Canada pilots are now allowed fly bearded thanks to a study conducted in Simon Fraser University’s hypobaric chamber atop Burnaby Mountain.

Until last year, Air Canada and several other airlines required pilots to have a clean-shaven face, reasoning beards would interfere with the seal on an oral-nasal oxygen face mask.

I guess it's a slow news day. ;)

Silly me, and all this time I thought this was a Lamoriello rule at AC. Makes sense now that he's with NYI. :p

"...the airline has changed its facial-hair policy to allow aircrew to wear neatly trimmed facial hair up to 1.25 centimetres in length."
Step right up, those of you who'd like to be the person who pulls beard hair against the enforcement ruler.

AC has anticipated this approval for some time now, and have instituted some guidelines for its Vancouver-based pilot group, stipulating the various styles of facial hair permitted. As seen on the notice board within the crew duty room, here are some of the regional styles we may soon see on the terminal concourse:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1ad6f5200.jpeg
The "last-minute call-up off Reserve List" beard


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bf5712a23.jpeg
The Powell Street hipster beard


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ea9bee061.jpeg
Bowen Island 787 captain commuter beard


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...63ee4d493.jpeg
The Jericho beard


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...22989000d.jpeg
West End / Davie Street beard


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...017dee817.jpeg
Main Street / Fairview beard


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d0280051d.jpeg
I Flew with Grant McConachie beard


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d754a5166.jpeg
Main Street / 49th Ave beard


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1c0c0e17c.jpeg
West Van Caulfeild 'beard'


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...fb9d54007.jpeg
Commercial/Grandview beard



Certain Rouge aircraft are also scheduled to be bearded:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7c84bd0db.jpeg


You read it here first.

Interesting. It has been standard procedure in most industries for decades that if you're going into an area where the use of a breathing apparatus might be necessary, men (and women, I suppose) must be clean shaven so as not to interfere with the fit of a face mask. As recently as last year I had to have a fit test for a full face mask before being allowed onto a major construction site. Same when entering the bleach plant at pulp mills, firefighters, rescue workers, confined space entry, etc.

In the case of pilots, containing enough oxygen within the mask might be possible with a short beard. Keeping toxic gases out would be a different matter. What if there's a fire on board?

Most breathing apparatuses (apparatui?) are more about excluding the surrounding atmosphere then they are about delivering O2. From that... IDK, I got nothing. I'm hardly a gasologist.

But if the pilots don't have custom fit (or at least sized) masks and are doing the banana smell test, then I would conclude that the otherwise very anal aviation industry doesn't care that much about mask fit.

As someone that has to regularly practice wearing various types of respirators and breathing apparatus it's perfectly possible to form a seal with a beard. Not always but in most cases. Interesting fact in times of war the Royal Navy issues a clean shaven order for this reason

Not just the Royal Navy. HMAS SYDNEY Persian Gulf. I remember 15 January 1991 particularly well as that was the day our Task Group commander sent out a signal "Hostilities are imminent. Shave off -R- Shave off." There went my beard of 12 years. Bloody painful taking it off too......I suspect a gas mask though requires a perfect seal whereas a supplemental O2 mask...maybe not so much. Are the pilots masks more of a "demand" type" or are they "Positive Pressure"?

If the primary purpose of the apparatus is delivery of supplemental oxygen, experience will show lots of heavily bearded men using them successfully in the field of high-altitude mountaineering for decades.

Of course, there is a big difference between simply delivering supplementary oxygen to a non-contaminated environment and providing a supply of pure air in a contaminated one.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...lots-1.4825104

Air Canada commissioned a team from the university to test the efficacy of respirators on bearded pilots after receiving an application from an experienced pilot who is Sikh.

"They were Sikh and were not going to be clean shaven. That brought up the question to Air Canada that is this policy still a valid policy or is it just a carry-over from the old days," said Sherri Ferguson, director of SFU's Environmental Medicine and Physiology Unit and head of the study.

Now as long as the stewards and stewardesses are not bearded I am fine. I don't want any facial hair in my food onboard.

Is hair from the head ok though? :)