Hacker News Reader

That research is pretty much bunk because those systems are not always active when the place is occupied. They’re almost always off during boarding and taxiing. Like it’s great to filter the air in this way, but if you let everyone bathe in each others breath for an hour before turning them on, the practical impact on transmission is drastically diminished.

View on HN

Yes, sure. But it gives helpful guidance. It means that if you wear a mask through the airport, and before takeoff and after landing. Taking it off for meals and the like is a much lower risk then not wearing a mask at all.

Sure, this is true. I just remember being somewhat peeved during the pandemic when this was being touted by airlines without this caveat, with the express intention of misleading people about actual risks.

Agreed. The study was really important. The messaging around it was not so great.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com