the810

I just wonder which people.
Are they trying to reassure their staff who are afraid to fly, e.g. responding to cabin crew requests?
Is it a commercial decision, because AF/KL believes this will make more people confident to travel? (I seriously doubt that.)
Does it come from lawyers pushing for doing the same thing everyone else does "just in case"?

In any case, this face mask mania is becoming absurd.

NLNO

No, this is to stop people who are saying �I feel like crap, but it is probably not corona� to spread the virus while on board. While not bullet proof - it will reduce the amount of droplets roaming the cabin.

EricVdb

The critique towards KLM is already growing , as many see flying as the reason Covid19 was spread around the globe.
Furthermore, when traveling in a bus or train, one has to wear a mask, so I think KLM has no option, when they fly without masks, the country would explode in "anger".

majik

So mob rules? Not an evidence and science based approach? A homemade mask made from t-shirt cotton is about as effective as sneezing or coughing into your elbow.

yvrcnx

Is it expected to wear the mask 100% the entire time? What about during eating, drinking or just to take a deep breath?
My main concern would be that every passenger will consider him/herself the "mask police" and report if you take it off for a moment.
All this will make flying extremely unpleasant?

EricVdb

Doesn't matter.

Politics is partly listening to the people. Sometimes you have to give them what they want.
When schools were closed, they did this not because the government thought it helped against the spread of the virus, but because "everyone" wanted it, teachers and patients.

Same thing with masks. People see neighbouring countries making them required (in certain situations), so they want them too.

Wether they work or not, it is not my place to determine that, but if it is required for people to start functioning again, to get out of (some sort of) lockdown....

the810

Thanks for the explanation, I wasn't aware such sentiment exists in the Netherlands.

Sad, sad world....

Xandrios

Which is something half the people don't do either. So forcing the masks will definitely help in that regard.

Of course you should wear it as much as possible. Flying is going to be unpleasant, taking it off for comfort is not the right thing to do.

Forcing everyone to wear mask will likely increase the risk of infection through contact with surfaces (like the outside of the mask). But it will also make sure that the person sitting next to you won't infect you, or at least much less likely. Which means that you yourself are responsible for your health. If you make sure that you follow protocol around using the masks properly you will be fine. If you don't care, you may get infected. Thats exactly the way it should be...rather than somebody who is very careful gets infected by a neighbor without mask.

majik

It's coming as a commercial decision to reassure people about flying. Masks have some merit if you are using top grade medical masks, but you're allowed onboard anyway with an ineffective homemade mask too.

As for temperature checks, there are some serious issues here. Temperature checks have been shown to be very ineffective at detecting those who are ill. Additionally passenger details will need to be recorded to make any vain attempt at screening pax temps somewhat organised, so there are some serious privacy concerns with that too. AC are already getting called out on this in Canada.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/air...erns-1.5562939

the810

If that's the case, I'm very sceptical about it. People who are afraid to travel won't change their mind just because of masks on board - there will still be way too much contact during their travels to reassure them. And in the process, airlines will be losing those customers who would be willing to fly under relatively normal conditions, but are not willing to go through so much hassle.

If this becomes a widespread norm with all airlines, it will be a huge blow to those destinations that are trying to open up for the summer season.

SouthWesterner

Exactly this.

I'm not willing to pay premium fares if I'm assured of a miserable experience at the airport and onboard. I might endure it for an ultra short-haul hop in economy, but if I'm assured of a miserable experience then why should I not just travel with Ryanair and save myself some cash? Meanwhile, the ultra-risk averse will never be satiated unless and until there is a vaccine. They'll be too scared to travel.

Perhaps we might have to accept that flying will inevitably be miserable for the next few years. But for those of us whose travel is discretionary, KLM is likely to find that we prefer to stay at home - or at best, switch to the cheapest available economy fare.

irishguy28

Shouldn't you have been doing that all along, anyway? (Your username suggests that you should know all about the cheapest available economy fares!)

And if your travel is discretionary, you really should be looking to stay at home now. Most governments are still recommending against all but essential travel.

Rambol

I am honestly quite surprised by all the negative reactions in this thread to this decision.

How many people here have actually flown while wearing a mask? I flew from Australia to Europe in March while wearing a mask and it wasn't too bad. The only (major) downside was that my ears started to hurt after about 8 hours of wearing the mask. I don't think lots of people are taking trips this long right now. And if they are, there are ways to prevent painfull ears.

One other argument against masks (at least in the Netherlands, made by the RIVM) is that people wearing masks will not keep their distance. The negative effect of not keeping distance would be bigger than the positive from wearing a mask (Source (Dutch)). However, when flying it is impossible to keep your distance anyway, so this argument doesn't make sense to me.

In my opinion the downsides of wearing masks are so small that they definitely outweigh the possible downsides. So unless anyone has some strong evidence that wearing a mask increases the risk of transmitting the virus, I applaud this move by KLM and ask myself why they did not do this earlier.

corporate-wage-slave

Face coverings are not accepted in EDI, but they are handing out light blue masks and health screening questionnaires.

the810

Most, but not all. There are some places that are trying to open for the summer season and actively promote tourism.

While I haven't flowin in a mask, I do my shopping in a mask and it's rather uncomfortable after few minutes. I just can't imagine wearing it for a few hours will be better. Different people react differently, I get headache almost instantly and I get dizzy (to the point where I make mistakes when trying to use self-service check-out). I've also heard of people having much bigger medical issues when wearing masks for prolongued times.

There's a reason why evolution gave us nose.