Window seat plane coronavirus
Choosing the window seat could reduce your risk of infection.
Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/Getty
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is strongly urging Americans to stay home this Thanksgiving and celebrate with the people they live with.
  • The CDC warns that “travel may increase your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others this year.”
  • Though it doesn’t recommend traveling, the CDC says that “most viruses and other germs do not spread easily on flights because of how air circulates and is filtered on airplanes.”
  • Some experts agree and say that there are certain things you can do to minimize the risk of infection on flights, such as frequent handwashing.
  • Sitting in the window seat can also somewhat reduce your risk of infection by having fewer people in close proximity than you would in other seats.
  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Amid a fall surge of the coronavirus, nonessential travel isn’t recommended. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that “travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19” and urges Americans to stay home for Thanksgiving.

But if you choose to travel by plane, after all, you might be wondering how to do so safely.

Insider spoke to four experts about how likely getting infected on a plane actually is, and it turns out that the risk of getting sick while flying is lower than you might think — especially if you take appropriate precautions, such as frequent handwashing, wearing a mask, and having vents blow air down.

One more thing you can do to reduce your risk of infection while flying is choosing the window seat.

“Because people are walking by you in the aisle seat, it’s shown in outbreaks and norovirus that people are more likely to get ill if they sit on the aisle because people are touching surfaces and walking by,” Charles Gerba, a professor of virology at the University of Arizona who has also studied germs on planes, said. “So based on norovirus outbreaks, the window seat is better.”

Howard Weiss, a biomathematician and professor in the School of Mathematics at Georgia Tech and an adjunct professor of biology and public health at Emory University who co-authored a study titled "Behaviors, movements, and transmission of droplet-mediated respiratory diseases during transcontinental airline flights," agrees.

"What we found was under normal circumstances — again, we're talking direct transmission of large droplet transmitted infectious diseases — if you sit in a window seat, you are more than a meter (3 feet) away from the aisle," he said. "So if you believe in the one-meter cut-off for infectious droplets, then you're going to have far fewer close proximity contacts. So yes, there's some added benefit to sitting in a window seat. It's modest, but it's certainly a benefit."

flights coronavirus
Sitting by the window means you're less exposed to people walking up and down the aisle.
Getty

According to Paloma Beamer, associate professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Arizona and president of the International Society of Exposure Science, having a wall next to you will essentially reduce the number of people within your 6-foot exposure radius by half, which is why she suggests selecting a window seat if possible.

Beamer said that while it depends on the airline and plane, she found that travelers in the middle seat of a standard plane can have up to 20 other passengers within 6 feet of them on a full flight.

However, she adds that 6 feet is really just a suggestion.

"Six feet 1 inch doesn't make you safe, neither does 5 feet 10 inches make you not safe — it's kind of a range. Some people are going to release a lot more virus when they're sick than other people," she said.

Essentially, your probability of getting infected depends on how close or far you are from an infected person. So, even though sitting in a window seat can help you keep your distance from more people, it's still possible that you could get sick from being near an infected person.

"What our study showed was that if direct transmission, large droplet mediated infectious disease variance falls within a meter or two (3-6 feet), then unless you're seated close to the infectious passenger [...] you have quite a low probability of getting infected," Weiss said.

That said, while the airplane itself might not be much of a risk, travelers must be careful getting to the airport and at the airport itself, where the ventilation system isn't as effective as on planes. As always, social distancing, wearing masks, and washing hands frequently are advised.

While many flights were operating at low capacity and even keeping middle rows empty, this will soon be a thing of the past. Come December 16, 2020, only Delta and Alaska will continue blocking middle seats.

It's worth reiterating that travel is not currently recommended in the US, but if you do choose to travel, it's best to check each state's health and travel advisories, and the CDC's travel recommendations by country.

Read the original article on Insider