Passengers not wearing masks on a flight, should I make a complaint?

[RopeyRuby]

Flew on a long haul flight last week with a major UK airline. As far as I was aware masks are mandatory on a flight.

Two men got ion the plane and sat two rows in front of us with their masks around their neck. The flight attendant asked them to put them on but they said they were exempt which beggars the question of why they had them at all? Shortly after takeoff another man took his mask off and spent the rest of the flight standing chatting to a passenger across from us with no mask on for the rest of the flight. I was not aware of him being asked to put it back on. Meanwhile we’re struggling with keeping our masks on for 7 hours!

On the flight back yesterday, my mask slipped down my nose so it wasn’t covered when I was trying to find space for my cabin bag as the lockers were all full. I got the attention of a flight attendant to ask him where I could put my stuff but he said very patronisingly ‘put your mask on properly then I’ll answer your question’. He then walked straight past a passenger with his mask around his neck and didn’t say anything to him. There was a different flight attendant with his mask only over his mouth not his nose the whole flight!

I’ve just read about a woman being removed from a flight for refusing to wear a mask.

WIBU to make a complaint about this to the airline?

@Nandocushion

But I suppose they'd need a FAA or similar UK regulation to back up that sort of response.

There is, or at least was, a requirement in the UK rules (I think the Air Navigation Order) that passengers must obey any safety related instructions given by the crew…so yes in extremis a UK crew could do what the American Airlines crew did a day or two ago and quite legitimately divert/return to start point and off load recalcitrant passengers.

The problem is the UK rule on exemptions make such a call extremely difficult.

My issue with you is that you were on a long haul flight in the first place, if you were that bothered about covid you wouldn't be traveling around in a pandemic.

if the flight crew were fine with it, then they probably are exempt and its none of your business.

not that it really matters as all you traveling the world are jabbed, covid passported and tested anyway, yet it was travelers who brought the last strain into the country from africa, and the one from india altho I dont know what the travel rules were then, and it was travelers who bought it here in the first place from china.

so you either accept the risks or you dont travel on flights to other countries during a pandemic, tutting about a bit of cloth on someones face in a confined sealed space with recycled air for hours is silly and just fooling yourself into a false sense of security, I assume there would be onboard food and drinks so not like everyone was going to keep their masks on anyway.

masks are to protect others from large globlets when you sneeze etc when in a confined space for a short period of time like on a bus or in a shop, which dosent have recycled air and unless you are wearing both a custom fitted FFP3 mask and goggles you are never going to be 100% safe.

How do you KNOW it's because she was a "mere woman"? People are assuming this.

It must be draining constantly looking for things to be offended/outraged by.

OP. it was annoying, but it's done. Complaining will achieve nothing.

Thanks for that info about the US aircraft being turned around, Nandocushion. I'm surprised, I admit, because it costs them a hell of a lot to do it, but maybe they felt it worthwhile to make a point

Not surprised by that turn back TBH.,..If as is alleged they got into a situation where passengers ( even a small number) were choosing to ignore lawful instructions from the crew, especially early on in a multi hour Long Haul Flight, then it would have been an (relatively) easy decision for the captain to make.

I would certainly expect the company/FA to back up the captain’s decision..

I can't really see what you'd achieve by complaining. What do you want the airline to do as a result?

Yes, I've been on flights with people being absolutely arseholes and disrespecting any staff asking them to wear one. All you can do is keep yours on and keep yourself safe.

If you're worried about catching Covid then why on earth were you on a plane?

to those saying if they were wearing masks they cant be exempt.

my son wears a mask on public transport and in shops, but he is exempt in school and has a lanyard to prove his exemption, its fine in school because they know so no ones going to bother him about it and theres a big difference between sitting on the tube for 10 mins and being in a school for 7 hours.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-60080080

@Isaw3ships but that isn’t how face masks work. You wear them to protect others from your germs. They are much less effective at protecting the wearer.

Maybe read some of the many, many, articles written over the last couple of years about how all this works eh.

@eldora

YANBU, the staff seem to be picking on easy targets (women) but letting men get away with it.

Definitely complain.

Yes my first reaction too. Women have to comply, men get away with it.

Even if the requirement to wear masks on planes is also lifted next week, the equality issue remains. I'd definitely take it up with them.

Mind you, I would have had to have said something to the patronising cabin crew at the time.

@GreenFingersWouldBeHandy

I can't really see what you'd achieve by complaining. What do you want the airline to do as a result?

Yes, I've been on flights with people being absolutely arseholes and disrespecting any staff asking them to wear one. All you can do is keep yours on and keep yourself safe.

Change the way they enforce the rules (any rules, not just regarding masks)? That is, not pick on women and let men get away with things?

Personally I’d rather the plane kept on going and I wore my mask and washed my hands etc than have the flight diverted because one or two people out of the hundreds onboard didn’t wear masks for the journey.

@Isaw3ships

Personally I’d rather the plane kept on going and I wore my mask and washed my hands etc than have the flight diverted because one or two people out of the hundreds onboard didn’t wear masks for the journey.

Problem with that approach that some people who initially were wearing masks reluctantly. start to notice the mask rules aren’t being enforced…so don’t bother either…There’s then a danger of the situation degenerating especially if everybody thinks they know their rights….

There’s a potential for it getting very ugly and you maybe end up diverting to somewhere you’d rather not go.

Easiest answer, especially v early in a flight is to return to the start point and let authorities on the ground sort it out.

@notimagain and yet somehow the flight the OP was on didn’t descend into some riot between anti maskers and those wearing masks…

The OP claims they were on a UK airline, the turn back case that has been in the news was a US one with a very different rule set, especially when it comes to exemptions from mask wearing.

The Flight attendants on the US flight would have been required to operate iaw with FAA rules and would have been required/expected by many passengers to enforce those rules…

Just for info this is the rule the US based crew would have been trying to enforce:

“ U.S. federal law requires that you wear a face covering at all times while indoors at the airport and on board your flight, regardless of vaccination status. If you refuse to wear one, you may be denied boarding and future travel on American. You may also face penalties under federal law.”

There are some exemptions, but if you want to claim exemption you need to give the airline 72 hours notice….rocking up on the day and claiming exemption won’t work…

www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/coronavirus-updates.jsp

I would certainly expect the company/FA to back up the captain’s decision

So would I, but considering the diversity of views over masks, the money airlines have already lost through Covid and the ever changing rules, I'd be surprised if there wasn't some pushback - especially if this keeps happening when the "Plan B" restrictions end

Plan B is I assume a UK “thing”, so I doubt the turn back would have happened on a UK registered flight, simply because everybody seems to have the “exemption” get out.

@Isaw3ships

By wearing YOUR mask you were protecting yourself - by not wearing theirs they were putting themselves more at risk. Also - why complain so far after the factX did it loss you off that much? Move on…

Really? Nearly 2 years in and you are still getting it the wrong way round? Are you doing it deliberately or are you incredibly hard of thinking?

Mask wearing protects others from you more than it protects you from others. Wearing one is a courtesy to others and works best when everyone participates.

It was a BA flight.

I didn’t even think you could claim an ‘exemption’ on a flight. I understood it as wear a mask or don’t fly. I wasn’t scared of getting Covid either. I’ve had it.

It was more the enforcing rules for some but not for others and being rude with it. I have complained. The fact both flights were delayed and we had to wait in the airport for almost 8 hours in our masks (in addition to the flight) on the way back made it even worse. I didn’t notice anyone in the airport without a mask on. We were in the US and they were constantly saying over the tannoy that you MUST keep your mask on.

Let’s see what they say.

And yes, wearing a mask protects others from your exhalations not you from theirs!

The moment has passed. The time to complain was during the flight, to the flight attendant concerned. What do you expect them to do about it now?

You can claim an exemption on a flight, yes. I had hyperemesis gravidarum and a note from a doctor. I had to travel for a funeral but I really, really could not sit with a mask on my face as it exacerbated my symptoms. The air stewards were fine with it as a I had a medical note. I got some looks from passengers and it infuriated me - it’s not for other people to police this shit. For what it’s worth, I did still have a mask because I tried to wear it where possible but when it became too much I took it off. So these men having a mask doesn’t mean much/mean they weren’t exempt.

Also how can you not have noticed your mask slipped down? It feels very hypocritical to complain about these men but then say you weren’t wearing your mask properly but you shouldn’t have been in trouble for that?! Mouth maskers are the most irritating of all. Wear one or don’t wear one, but it’s so stupid keeping your chin warm.