How much cabin crew intervention to expect re: masks
Apr 6, 2021, 11:27 pm
#16
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,747
Interesting. I've been on several AS flights. The FAs have been consistent in asking any passenger (that I saw) with a mask askew to adjust it over the nose. I've also seen FAs ask passengers no longer eating or drinking to put their masks on.
Apr 7, 2021, 1:46 am
#18
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: WA State
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold, Hilton Gold, Red Lion Gold
Posts: 177
People! Chill out!
Wear your mask (a good one) and protect yourself. Double mask if you want.
Get your vaccine.
If this causes you so much anxiety, don’t fly until you’re vaccinated.
Wear your mask (a good one) and protect yourself. Double mask if you want.
Get your vaccine.
If this causes you so much anxiety, don’t fly until you’re vaccinated.
Apr 7, 2021, 6:45 am
#19
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Houston
Programs: UA 1K and Million Miler, *A Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hertz Five Star,
Posts: 1,301
I expect FAs to do their best to remind passengers of the mask policy and provide yellow cards when the situation calls for it but as was previously mentioned, I am responsible for my own safety and if someone taking their mask off for 15 min. made me feel truly unsafe, I wouldn't be on the plane in the first place.
Apr 7, 2021, 8:22 am
#20
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: Alaska MM, AA MM, BA Silver, Bonvoy Lifetime Gold
Posts: 321
The bottom line is that it is the rule...PERIOD. It does not matter what the crew or the passengers "feel" is important or working or helping. As long is it is the rule, and EVERYONE know it, you either wear the mask or don't fly. Just like your seat belt. You either wear it or you don't fly. I wish all flight crews policed all rules uniformly but that is also human nature. Not all crews do the flight service uniformly just like not all gate agents do the boarding process the same or do upgrades to the rules. I am not excusing it but as some have said, it is up to all of us to try and make this work. Would we be having the same discussion if someone was vaping? (I will not use smoking because that would be hard to hide.) Of course not.
Apr 7, 2021, 9:38 am
#21
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: SEA
Programs: AA LT PLT; HH Diamond; AS 75K
Posts: 2,879
Some people are just jerks no matter the situation. I was waiting to board in the FC line and social distanced to the person scanning in front of me. The guy behind thought it was okay to get close enough to my backside he could have provided some hygienic measures. I asked him to social distance which resulted in him and his wife going around to the other line and cutting in front of me. Funny, I was sitting in row 2 and got off before him.
He did wear a mask though 🤔
He did wear a mask though 🤔
Apr 7, 2021, 9:52 am
#22
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,598
Nope... I honestly don't care..... and don't want to be the catalyst for a viral video when it doesn't go well. I don't want to turn this into a political/scientific thing but I just don't see how a thin piece of fabric worn by someone whose mouth and nose are 18" from mine on a 5-hour flight makes much difference.
I'm under 50, not overweight, I eat well and am very healthy. I take the precautions that I can to avoid being exposed and exposing others but have very minimal fear of being harmed by Covid. I totally respect other peoples' opinions and the measures they take and ask for the same in return. If I worried about catching Covid (or anything for that matter) I wouldn't be locking myself in an enclosed airplane to 5+ hours.
I'm under 50, not overweight, I eat well and am very healthy. I take the precautions that I can to avoid being exposed and exposing others but have very minimal fear of being harmed by Covid. I totally respect other peoples' opinions and the measures they take and ask for the same in return. If I worried about catching Covid (or anything for that matter) I wouldn't be locking myself in an enclosed airplane to 5+ hours.
All that said, aircraft seem to be a pretty safe environment for a few reasons - they have very rapid air turnover with the entire volume of the cabin running through the filters every 2-3 minutes. They change out about half the air in the cabin on every turnover, so you're not getting exposed to any accumulating virus, but it's being diluted fairly quickly. And the airflow is ceiling to floor, so it's not washing any contamination over everybody in the plane, and it shortens the path of any droplets or aerosols before they hit something they can stick to. The negatives are that you're close to people for extended periods and they tend to have low humidity (drying out your nose), but modern aircraft seem to do the humidity a lot better than older ones. Put a mask on everybody and it's going to be a pretty low risk environment. So I've been flying regularly and not had any covid scares. As vax levels increase I'm going to worry even less about it, though I'll probably keep KN95s in my carry on for a while in case I end up on a flight full of sneezy people.
More directly on topic- in 35-40 AS flights I don't think I've had any crews that seemed lax about it. I've seen a few pax offloaded before the door closed because they wouldn't mask up, and I've seen FAs wake people up to remind them to pull the mask up over their nose. I did for the first time in almost a year see an FA pull down his mask to demonstrate the oxygen mask (showing that you remove yours before putting the 02 mask on).
Apr 7, 2021, 12:17 pm
#23
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
It wasn't my intent to take this thread into OMNI. I was pointing out that wearing a mask is a mandate that should be complied with & enforced just like wearing seatbelts & not smoking or vaping. Nothing more.
As an aside: It still puzzles me that there is an ashtray in the lavatories accompanied by a notice to please don't discard cigarettes in the trash/waste/rubbish bin/can.
James
As an aside: It still puzzles me that there is an ashtray in the lavatories accompanied by a notice to please don't discard cigarettes in the trash/waste/rubbish bin/can.
James
Apr 7, 2021, 12:22 pm
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: HH Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 10,458
How much help are AS cabin crews providing when other passengers won't mask?
My datapoint: on a transcon today, my seatmate had his mask off for over fifteen minutes while nursing a bag of chips plus countless other times and spent about half the flight with his nose hanging out. Cabin crew offered to move me but otherwise offered no support. (The lead FA also pulled down his own mask when speaking with a passenger during the taxi-out, so I'm leaving open the possibility that this crew is an anomaly.) My sense is that despite their Safety Dance talk, Alaska isn't walking the walk. And I'm agonizing over what to do with my upcoming/return AS travel.
For the record, the current policy reads: "While guests are allowed to temporarily remove their masks when briefly drinking or eating or when taking medication, masks must otherwise be worn at all times, including between sips of beverages or bites of food." (And, to be clear, I'm looking forward to a world where we can again breathe with strangers in moderate safety. But we're not there yet.)
Previous thread from September; I'm not seeing anything more recent, hence the question.
My datapoint: on a transcon today, my seatmate had his mask off for over fifteen minutes while nursing a bag of chips plus countless other times and spent about half the flight with his nose hanging out. Cabin crew offered to move me but otherwise offered no support. (The lead FA also pulled down his own mask when speaking with a passenger during the taxi-out, so I'm leaving open the possibility that this crew is an anomaly.) My sense is that despite their Safety Dance talk, Alaska isn't walking the walk. And I'm agonizing over what to do with my upcoming/return AS travel.
For the record, the current policy reads: "While guests are allowed to temporarily remove their masks when briefly drinking or eating or when taking medication, masks must otherwise be worn at all times, including between sips of beverages or bites of food." (And, to be clear, I'm looking forward to a world where we can again breathe with strangers in moderate safety. But we're not there yet.)
Previous thread from September; I'm not seeing anything more recent, hence the question.
And, if a specific drew does a particularly good job of enforcing safety mandate, I would also send a note to customer service!
Apr 7, 2021, 1:05 pm
#26
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
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Posts: 20,392
It wasn't my intent to take this thread into OMNI. I was pointing out that wearing a mask is a mandate that should be complied with & enforced just like wearing seatbelts & not smoking or vaping. Nothing more.
As an aside: It still puzzles me that there is an ashtray in the lavatories accompanied by a notice to please don't discard cigarettes in the trash/waste/rubbish bin/can.
James
As an aside: It still puzzles me that there is an ashtray in the lavatories accompanied by a notice to please don't discard cigarettes in the trash/waste/rubbish bin/can.
James
</off topic, in before thread lock>
Apr 7, 2021, 4:07 pm
#27
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2012
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the problem with the mask "mandate", both the AS policy, and the US "law" now in force about the issue of wearing masks on planes, is that enforcement is left up to whoever happens to be "in charge" at the given time. there is no universal enforcement mechanism, and no universal minimum penalty for non-compliance.
for things like not wearing your seatbelt, not complying w/ crewmember instructions, smoking in the lav, being a dangerous/disruptive passenger...there are minimum penalties in the federal statues that are enough to generally ensure high levels of compliance. the CDC issued the "law" about wearing masks on public transport, including planes, but stipulated no penalties for non-compliance, and did not enable the FAA to stipulate its own penalty for such, to my knowledge. basically, all passengers know that this will basically not be enforced on a criminal or civil level, except that they may be banned from flying a given airline for a particularly egregious neglect of the masking "rule".
on the personnel side, many non-enforcing FA's probably feel as though they don't get paid enough to deal with what has become a highly politicized issue, or who knows, maybe they're anti-maskers themselves.
for things like not wearing your seatbelt, not complying w/ crewmember instructions, smoking in the lav, being a dangerous/disruptive passenger...there are minimum penalties in the federal statues that are enough to generally ensure high levels of compliance. the CDC issued the "law" about wearing masks on public transport, including planes, but stipulated no penalties for non-compliance, and did not enable the FAA to stipulate its own penalty for such, to my knowledge. basically, all passengers know that this will basically not be enforced on a criminal or civil level, except that they may be banned from flying a given airline for a particularly egregious neglect of the masking "rule".
on the personnel side, many non-enforcing FA's probably feel as though they don't get paid enough to deal with what has become a highly politicized issue, or who knows, maybe they're anti-maskers themselves.
Apr 7, 2021, 4:09 pm
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)
Programs: DL PM 1.57MM; AS MVPG 100K
Posts: 21,373
the problem with the mask "mandate", both the AS policy, and the US "law" now in force about the issue of wearing masks on planes, is that enforcement is left up to whoever happens to be "in charge" at the given time. there is no universal enforcement mechanism, and no universal minimum penalty for non-compliance.
for things like not wearing your seatbelt, not complying w/ crewmember instructions, smoking in the lav, being a dangerous/disruptive passenger...there are minimum penalties in the federal statues that are enough to generally ensure high levels of compliance. the CDC issued the "law" about wearing masks on public transport, including planes, but stipulated no penalties for non-compliance, and did not enable the FAA to stipulate its own penalty for such, to my knowledge. basically, all passengers know that this will basically not be enforced on a criminal or civil level, except that they may be banned from flying a given airline for a particularly egregious neglect of the masking "rule".
on the personnel side, many non-enforcing FA's probably feel as though they don't get paid enough to deal with what has become a highly politicized issue, or who knows, maybe they're anti-maskers themselves.
for things like not wearing your seatbelt, not complying w/ crewmember instructions, smoking in the lav, being a dangerous/disruptive passenger...there are minimum penalties in the federal statues that are enough to generally ensure high levels of compliance. the CDC issued the "law" about wearing masks on public transport, including planes, but stipulated no penalties for non-compliance, and did not enable the FAA to stipulate its own penalty for such, to my knowledge. basically, all passengers know that this will basically not be enforced on a criminal or civil level, except that they may be banned from flying a given airline for a particularly egregious neglect of the masking "rule".
on the personnel side, many non-enforcing FA's probably feel as though they don't get paid enough to deal with what has become a highly politicized issue, or who knows, maybe they're anti-maskers themselves.
Apr 7, 2021, 4:13 pm
#29
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bay Area - East Bay
Programs: UA 1k, AS 75k, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 641
While I haven't had any major offenders that I noticed on my recent flights, the FAs and the GAs were all very good. On a short SFO-PDX hop, a GA actually went around the gate area and proactively gave free masks to anyone who had a non-compliant mask. Later, during boarding for DCA-LAX, a passenger was upgraded to 1B but was uncomfortable with an aisle seat and asked to be moved back to premium. This was quickly arranged and we still pushed back early.
On a tangentially related note, I was breaking off pieces of my cookie and pulling down my N95 to pop them in my mouth, and ended up with a healthy dose of crumbs in my mask. For anyone else attempting this technique I recommend going in from the bottom of the mask!
On a tangentially related note, I was breaking off pieces of my cookie and pulling down my N95 to pop them in my mouth, and ended up with a healthy dose of crumbs in my mask. For anyone else attempting this technique I recommend going in from the bottom of the mask!