I agree 100%. Unfortunately I can't read that much Dutch, but I have seen a few articles on the pointlessness of masks. Like the liquids ban, it's just a way of being seen to be doing something.

I have absolutely no concerns about taking part in any normal activities, including flying. However, with all the theatre involved it is simply not worth it. Not to mention the fact that anywhere I might want to go is basically closed. Then the testing on return to avoid quarantine.

Fortunately I am now in the same position as you. Life in my home country (Austria) is about as near normal as anywhere is going to get in the next few months.

Restaurants, bars and cafés are opening up tomorrow - and I'm heading straight down to a lakeside restaurant with a friend to order ourselves a couple of steaks and a few beers.

So as of tomorrow the only real abnormality we have to put up with is the forced mask wearing on public transport and in shops. But that doesn't bother me because I walk or drive everywhere and hate shopping.

The only thing I can't do yet is pop down to my local Mercure for their more than decent breakfast buffet, or over the border to Germany to my favourite Biergarten.

All in all, I'm better off staying here.
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So, if you wanna fly AMS-SIN-DPS you gonna wear a mask 12+ hours straight??

Basically, yes. That's the rule and many people will put up with it. I wouldn't. But many people will.

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These have gone up on the website. I wonder if they're going to put them on a laminated card in each seat pocket, like the safety card?

https://content.presspage.com/upload...-face-mask.jpghttps://content.presspage.com/upload...man-rechts.jpg
https://content.presspage.com/upload...-man-front.jpghttps://content.presspage.com/upload...-man-links.jpg

https://content.presspage.com/upload...-man-front.jpghttps://content.presspage.com/upload...mask.jpg?10000

If they do, then it's obvious it's in for the long haul.

What happens if the plane gets suddenly uncomfortable hot and people start suffocating? Will KL have to make emergency landings every week and pay hospital bills for hundreds of people?

I don't think they've quite thought of that. Non-Covid consequences of actions are not crossing anyone's mind at the moment.

Planes typically only become "uncomfortably hot" on the ground - either when they are held on the tarmac, and/or when the APU cannot be run and the external power/AC is not connected/switched on while the plane is being unloaded and loaded.

(After all, when a plane is in flight, the external temperature is well below freezing. If it's too hot during flight, just ask the cabin crew to adjust the temperature).

My guess is that "tarmac delays" won't be a feature of any airport this summer; and there should be no excuse to properly cool the plane prior to boarding the next load of passengers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/t...peratures.html

They probably do but are "more cautious" people likely to fly? Risk-averse people will probably stay home anyway, face masks won't suddenly make them comfortable with the idea of getting inside a crowded aluminium tube. Not to mention there will be much more human contact on their trip than just being on a plane. I think airlines are wrong, trying to convince people they have no chance of convicing at the expense of discouraging people who would actually be happy to travel.

Recently I've read an interview with a therapist who mentioned that he has several clients who get anxious because of masks' omnipresence these days. While most people's reaction is not nearly as severe, on the subconcious level, masks signal danger to most of us. Airlines are effectively advertising their planes as unsafe spaces, where you need to wear a mask or everyone gets a terrible plague. That's not something that boosts confidence in travel.

It would be interesting to have mask-free and mask-compulsory parts of the aircraft. Though I'm well aware it's not very likely, it would be very interesting to see which part gets more popular with pax.

In the end of the day, there is some good in everything bad and at least I'm finally motivated to take an epic car journey I always dreamed about. If Denmark opens their border by mid-June, I might even do car + ferry to Iceland.

You make some interesting points. However, I think you're overestimating many people's analytical skills. Masks are a big fad at the moment and many people are not going to look past the "masks = safe" mantra. The thought process will be "I'm not really sure, but if everybody's got masks on it should be ok". These people will probably outweigh those like you and me, whose reaction will be "stuff that".

You are absolutely right that some will not be convinced by anything. A friend of mine is still too afraid to get on the bus. People in this bracket are not going to be tempted onto a plane by a strip of fabric.

This is not aimed at those people. It is aimed at the fence-sitters. Maybe between the middle third of the curve. In other words, a lot of people.

You are also correct that anti-maskers (myself included) will simply not put up with it and make alternative arrangements. In my case, given my lack of work at the moment and a 14-day quarantine on returning home from abroad, this gives me the impetus to get in my car and go and see the parts of Austria that I haven't yet been to.

All in all, this is (unfortunately for you and me) probably the correct commercial decision for airlines at the moment. This will change - it's just a matter of how long it takes. My guess is weeks rather than months. I have a feeling that enthusiasm for intrusive measures is waning.

Perhaps price will be an even larger factor than "mask". If airliners indeed have to fly at 60% capacity max. and need to price accordingly, not many people can afford to fly in the first place. Mask or no mask.
I think this will hurt the EU mainline carriers more than the LLCs. It is one thing to pay 100 euros to fly AMS-IBZ and sit with a mask for 2 hours, than pay 2500 euros to fly AMS-SIN and sit with mask for 12 hours. In short, intercontinental flights will be mostly dead until a vaccine is found, masks go away and capacity is restored to 90+%. And I am not even mentioning the threats of quarantines abroad (hello, Singapore).

Irrespective of the arguments if wearing a mask helps in any way or not - I find that this discussion or in general the view of wearing a mask in the last days shows a very obvious the culture divide. It is so obvious that even before the start of current events worldwide, when travelling especially to Asia or on Asian based airlines, especially those of North Asia, lots of the Asian pax will be wearing a mask during travel, able to wear it for the whole duration of the flight (my assumption) even if it's 8 or 12 hours without any complains such as how can I breath with it, what if I suffocate, etc....

To me we have been given a choice, either wear or it don't travel with us, find an alternative company or mode to get your destination.

Cheers!

I don't know why everyone is pinning their hopes on a vaccine. It is probably years away, if it even happens within our lifetimes.

The 60% middle seat free concept is simply not going to fly. It is not economically viable. As you say, it would price out most leisure travellers.

Basically, we either need to accept that we have to live with this virus and drop the theatre or forget flying.

Absolutely. That is the choice at the moment - and people have the right to make that choice. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Bolding is mine. I would add to your sentence: "....or forget flying, taking the train, going to a restaurant, cinema, concert, show/event, congress, having dinner with friends/family, etc. So in summary, forget about life.