How Safe Is Flying in the Age of Coronavirus?: QuickTake

How safe it is to fly remains a troubling question. The hopes of airlines for a travel rebound by the end of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer have crashed against a resurgence in coronavirus cases from Europe to Asia. Would-be passengers continue to worry about being stuck in a cabin for an extended time with possibly infectious strangers. The record shows the risks aren’t negligible.

Researchers think so. There is relatively little published research on the spread of the virus on airlines. However, a study published in July documented the case of a man on a Jan. 24 flight from Singapore to China whom researchers concluded probably became infected by fellow passengers after letting his face mask slip while chatting to his wife and son. A March 2 flight from the U.K. to Vietnam appears to have resulted in one passenger transmitting the virus to as many as 14 others and a crew member. In addition to these cases, the International Air Transport Association, the trade group for the world’s airlines, through an informal survey of 18 major airlines, identified four episodes in the first three months of the year of suspected in-flight transmission from passengers to crew, and a further four where one pilot appeared to give the virus to another.