I have been left scratching my head by a prominent flight attendant who wants food and drink to be eliminated on shorter flights. This is not an acceptable solution.
A Flight Attendant Does Not Want Food and Drinks, but Should Instead Focus on Masks
Heather Poole, a flight attendant, told the LA Times that no one has ever been hungry on a three-hour flight and she wants food and drink eliminated for shorter flights.
Poole is a regular reader of Live and Lets Fly and has exchanged thoughts with me on Twitter over the years. She isn't lazy, or just looking to read magazines from her jumpseat. This is not the point of this. She is, in fact, genuinely concerned about her safety and that of her flying partners.
The facts do not add up. The logic is also flawed.
We could certainly increase safety by requiring everyone to stay in their seats throughout the flight. By refusing to provide food or drinks, we could increase safety marginally by allowing passengers to bring their own food and beverages onboard.
This seems like the same overreaction that I feel when I use a sledgehammer for hunting a housefly.
Should we not be driving if we have airbags and a seatbelt?
According to safety studies, viruses are significantly reduced by the filtration systems aboard airlines.
It is a wrong question to ask if we will die. It is more about securing the best outcome for the most people. We have seen an increase in incidents of air rage due to the drastic cutbacks in food and drink aboard. This is what happens when passengers don't buy alcohol-controlled bottles and instead steal from you.
What happens when this disruption happens? No masks. Even if the disturbance isn't about masks, the masks can be taken off. Flight attendants are more at risk of serious injury if they are not vaccinated.
It is not possible to ban food and drink from the aircraft. If a solution is possible, it should require surgical masks or N-95s. Not ineffective cloth masks which fail to protect against the inhalation or expulsion of vapors.
It's so bizarre to me and it really undermines the idea behind masks. Flight attendants complain about passengers covering up but don't seem to care (based on what many actually wear) what type of masks they are wearing.
CONCLUSION
Poole is right to be concerned. COVID-19 is a deadly disease and the vaccine won't stop it completely. However, banning food and drinks, despite some safety benefits, seems to be the wrong way of treating the virus. It seems that wearing masks and taking steps to reduce in-flight disturbances is a better policy.
