Russian Airline Allocates Specific Plane Seats For Passengers Who Refuse To Wear A Mask
Russian airline Aeroflot has come up with a solution if passengers don’t want to wear masks on the flight during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many people simply refuse to wear a mask. In some countries, for example Spain, if you refuse to wear one correctly, you get a heavy fine. Russian airline Aeroflot isn’t fining its passengers, or ejecting them from the plane if they refuse to cover their faces. They allocate planned seats for the passengers, while socially distancing them from other passengers on the plane.
Aeroflot and COVID-19
Many people are still wary of taking a flight during the coronavirus pandemic. Being on a plane is close confinement, and some believe it can’t be safe. No matter how many times airlines release statements about their cleaning and sanitizing practices and explain how the cabin air works, it is still potentially scary.
However, you then get the other type of passenger, who is happy to fly, but refuses to wear a mask while onboard a plane. This is a tricky situation indeed for flight crew. Russian airline, Aeroflot believe they have come up with the ideal solution. It will now designate specific seats onboard its planes for those passengers who refuse to cover up.
How Aeroflot Handles The Mask Situation
Aeroflot is Russia’s largest airline and a national flag carrier, and has a strict policy that passengers must wear masks while boarding and while on the plane. The only exception is when they are eating, drinking or changing masks.
Despite the policy, it seems some passengers simply will not follow the guidelines. Obviously, a plane can’t just pull over in midair and eject the offending passenger. For this reason, Aeroflot has designated certain seats on every flight for those who will not, or cannot, follow the mask rules.
CNN quotes Yulia Spivakova, a spokeswoman for Aeroflot, who said in a statement, “It is critically important for us to ensure the safety of all passengers.” “[This] does not exclude the application of other measures of liability for violation of the rules for the use of personal protective equipment on board,” Spivakova added.
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Other Airlines And Mask Policies
Policies relating to mask use vary around the world, with individual carriers often coming up with their own rules. Flight attendants are landed with much of the burden of enforcing these policies. This is not an easy task for anyone.
Russia is not the only country that has issues relating to mask-wearing on planes. The United States has seen a number of high-profile incidents on flights where passengers refuse to wear them. During July, a Southwest Airlines flight had to return to the gate at Denver International Airport after several passengers got into a scuffle after one claimed it was their “constitutional right” not to wear a mask.
Delta Air Lines announced in August this year that it has enforced almost 250 lifetime bans on passengers who refuse to wear masks. During September, two passengers on two different Japanese domestic flights were ejected from planes prior to takeoff as both refused to cover their faces.
As for Aeroflot, they have not announced whether any long-term bans or other punishments are in line for passengers who refuse to mask-up during a flight. However, isolating them to a specific set of seats on the flight should reduce the likelihood that they could pass COVID-19 on to one of their fellow passengers.
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