We
asked medical experts for their opinions.
By Barbara Peterson
If you’re
thinking of getting on a plane in the near future, but still concerned about
the health risks, would a seat in first class buy you more protection?
That’s
the question many seasoned air travelers are currently asking themselves. Even
though first-class perks have been scaled back, many say the benefits—a wider seat, priority
boarding, and airport lounges—allow for more social distancing and are worth
the extra money or miles.
The
biggest issue for many fliers in the
pandemic is
indeed the amount of personal space they can claim, at the airport and on the
plane. A recent survey of travelers by the
International Air Transport Association found that 65 percent of those polled
listed the prospect of sitting next to someone who might be infected as the top
concern. (Using the restroom was second.)
Especially
for longer flights, the added space can be
substantial. According to industry data, first-class seats on international
wide-body planes like the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner offer
roughly three times the space—around 1,600 square inches—than a cramped coach
seat, which averages around 527 square inches. The fares reflect that
disparity; data from the Airlines Reporting Corp., a clearinghouse for
airlines, show that as of last year, international business- and first-class
fares cost more than four times the coach fare. For domestic flights, premium
fares can be double or triple the economy fare but, for that price, you get
just a bit more space: 756 square inches on a typical Airbus A320 layout,
according to ARC.
Some
airlines are continuing to block middle seats in coach, but even then, you
aren’t really getting a full six feet of distance from your seatmates. A
premium seat essentially guarantees a bigger slice of the real estate,
especially on airlines that keep their front cabins at less than full capacity.
Take the
experience of Tobie Stanger, a magazine writer who lives outside of New York,
who flew to Colorado in July on Delta and used miles to get upgraded to first class. “If
you’ve got a bunch of points saved up, and you know you aren’t going to be
using them, why not?” she says. With adjacent seats kept empty, the extra space
in the cabin was significant, she says. While her in-flight service consisted
of a bottle of water, some cookies, and a packet of wipes, she says the roomier
digs were worth it.
But is
this theory backed up by any medical evidence? How much added protection do you
really get from flying first or business class? We asked a couple of medical
experts to weigh in, and the answer was: not much.
“It
really doesn’t make much difference where you sit on the plane” says Dr. Mark
Gendreau, chief medical officer at Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospitals, near
Boston. “What’s most important are the precautions we are carrying out: face masks, proper hand hygiene, sanitizing surfaces,” he
says. That, combined with hospital-grade HEPA air filters throughout the plane,
have made it less likely the virus can be transmitted in flight. “The air
carriers are doing their part disinfecting the cabin between flights, and
they’ve stepped it up. The last thing they need is a rash of infected cases on
their airplanes.”
In fact,
he notes, one of the few documented cases of COVID-19 transmission on board a
plane involved a business-class passenger who had contracted the virus,
traveling from London to Hanoi on March 1 on a Vietnam Airlines flight. A report on the incident from the Centers for Disease
Control found that 15 passengers on the flight were infected as a result, 12 of
whom were also in business class. At the time, however, there was no mask
requirement for airline passengers, and other COVID-19 measures, like
temperature checks and deep cleaning of cabins had yet to take effect
industrywide.
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David
Aronoff, director of the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt
University Medical Center, also says there’s no data to support the notion of a
safer first class. It does seem logical that the risk is lower when there are
fewer people sharing the cabin, he says, “but it’s hard to say that it is
really worth that extra amount of money.”
Health
and safety aside, though, who wouldn’t want to fly in a premium cabin if they
could afford it? “It’s about not having that sense of claustrophobia when
you’re flying,” says Diana Hechler, president of D. Tours Travel, in Larchmont,
New York.
Even
though international travel has slowed, Hechler says that clients who are
contacting her about planning trips abroad next year have asked about flying business
class.
It’s a
valid point. From check-in to boarding and deplaning, premium passengers
usually face smaller lines and less commotion throughout their journey.
Although some airlines have revamped boarding and deplaning protocols in all
cabins to help maintain social distancing requirements, it seems most
passengers would rather bank on the well-established service perks afforded in
first and business classes.
“It’s not
just a wider seat and more leg room,” says Hechler. “It’s more personal space
at every step of the journey.”
We’re reporting on how COVID-19 impacts travel on a daily basis. https://www.cntraveler.com/story/is-flying-first-class-actually-safer-amid-the-pandemic