Have you ever taken a flight felt great about getting to your destination only to start feeling a cold coming on a day or two later? Well, you’re not alone. In fact, there may be up to an 80% greater chance of you getting sick on a flight, depending on where you’re sitting.
There are a few factors at play but you can reduce your chances of getting sick on your next flight with a little preparation and seating strategy. I show you how in the video above with some tips below.
The Myths, First
Let’s dispel some myths and airplane air, which a lot of people attribute to getting post flight coughs and sniffles. The air that is circulated on planes goes through high efficiency particulate air or HEPA filters and planes do in take some amount of fresh air during the flight. About 50% of the air you breathe on a flight is recycled with HEPA filters capturing about 99.97% of airborne particles over .3 microns in size. That’s enough to filter pretty much all bacteria and a lot of viruses.
HEPA filtration and passenger ventilation systems so good that sitting next to someone on a flight is like standing 2 meters away from someone in an office, grocery store, or… airport. Check in lines, security queues, bathrooms, lounges, there are a lot of people you come into contact with at an airport so that’s where you’re more likely to catch a cold. If catching a cold is something you’re especially concerned about a mask is a good precaution but there are other steps you can take.
Wash Hands And Watch Seats
Make sure to sanitize or wash your hands often and be mindful about where you pick a seat. A study conducted by Boeing, Emory University and Georgia Tech in 2018 indicated there may be a greater chance of getting sick on a flight, with some caveats. Researchers found that sitting in a row with a sick passenger or in front of or behind a sick passenger increased chances of getting sick.
The study was examining flights with 3 seat rows but a person directly on the other side of the aisle isn’t entirely safe – they had an 80% higher chance of getting sick. For the people across the aisle in the middle or window seat had a 10-30% chance increase of becoming ill.
Gasping For Health
According to Dr. Mark Gendreau, you can create an air curtain using the gaspers if they’re available on your next flight. Gaspers are the name of those adjustable personal air vents familiar to many fliers. Doctor Gendreau says angling them at medium flow so the air is blowing just in front of your face, can create some additional turbulence that might push away airborne germs just enough to keep you from inhaling them or landing on you.
Of course nothing is completely going to eliminate your chances of getting sick right after a flight. And some of the congestion you feel could come down to how dry the air is in cabin. Most plane cabins have 10-20% humidity whereas for most people something 30-60% is more comfortable. When the air gets drier, your body produces more mucus to keep you from drying out too much but as soon as you get off the plane, there’s now too much mucus because it’s more humid all of a sudden, that mucus has to go somewhere and often it’s in the form of a runny nose.
For clogged ears and noses though be sure to use the safe method to equalize pressure again to avoid hearing problems.
