How Real Is The New Threat?

It's a feeling like we had in the days after the September 11th terror attacks. Every time you got on a commercial flight, you wondered about the people around you. Could they be terrorists?

Now, even though the threat of airborne terrorism is still very real and very much on the minds of government and airline leaders... the latest cause for fear in the cabin is SARS: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

Quarantining Planes

In the 19 months since the terror attacks on the US, commercial flights have been delayed, intercepted, searched and searched again.

In the past three months since SARS began to spread from East Asia, commercial flights have been delayed, quarantined, cleaned and cleaned again. All the while, passengers are staying away in droves.

Earlier this month, an American Airlines flight 128 from Tokyo to Santa Clara (CA), the cabin crew noticed five passengers who seemed to have SARS-like symptoms. The plane landed, but the passengers weren't allowed to disembark. They were quarantined. The five passengers suspected of having SARS were carried away by ambulance to waiting hospitals. Eventually, all passengers were released and the five turned out to be SARS-free. But on April 4, President Bush signed into law a rare executive order making it legal for public safety officials to quarantine American citizens - against their will, if necessary.

Down And Out... Again

Together with the war on terror and the war on Iraq, the SARS epidemic has only served to increase the public's fear of flying. But how real is the threat?

Actually, there is cause for concern, say health officials. SARS can be spread by close physical contact. But the good news is that airline filtration systems make the air much cleaner than before. As a result, passengers are less likely to catch a virus like SARS. Few SARS cases, if any, have been reported as a direct result of contamination on a commercial flight.

“We do several things to minimize disease spread on our airplanes,” says Dave Space, a research scientist for cabin air quality at the Boeing Company, in an interview with MSNBC.com. “First, we design air flow patterns that minimize flow between the fore and aft  parts of the plane.”

But the HEPA filtration system only works when the cabin is pressurized. Sitting on the tarmac, the vents are shut off. Therein could lie the real danger.

AAPA Takes Steps To Disinfect Planes - And Air Travel's Image

Hardest hit among the world's air carriers are those in Asia. The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) says its 17 members are taking the following precautions against SARS:

• Close cooperation with government health agencies.
• Establishment of quarantine zones in airport terminals.
• Screening passengers for SARS before they board a flight. In Hong Kong... health officials now take the temperatures of all outbound passengers, hoping to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. Those suspected of being infected are denied boarding.
• Keeping an eye on passengers during all flights. Flight crews are being told what symptoms to look for in SARS suspects. If they spot the symptoms, the entire aircraft could be quarantined.
• More stringent cleaning of airline cabins between flights.
• Dissemination of SARS information to passengers and crew.
• Providing masks on certain routes for both passengers and crew. On some routes, cabin crew members wear plastic gloves when serving meals and drinks.
  

The Worst Toll Is On Airlines

But AAPA Director General Richard Stirland says some countries are taking "arbitrary measures" to prevent the spread of SARS and are inadvertently hurting the airline industry in the process. For instance, he says, some countries have banned inbound flights from those nations hardest-hit by SARS. Government warnings about SARS and air travel have forced AAPA carriers to cut more than 650 flights a week this month alone. Now, Stirland says, it's time for those governments and companies invested in commercial air travel to share the financial burden of preventing SARS from spreading.

"While the malaise is very focused on certain countries and cities and the airlines operating from and to those destinations are suffering disproportionately, even airlines based thousand of miles away have been hit hard," said Stirland (right).

"Besides reducing frequencies and cutting costs within their control, airlines are looking at other ways in which their exposure to the financial consequences of SARS can be reduced," Stirland said in a statement issued in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. "Airport and air traffic management services could and must reduce their charges, rents and other burdens imposed on the airlines regardless of the fluctuations of the market and in addition governments should look again at state provision of war risk insurance and at security charges for both passengers and cargo being paid out of general taxation, rather than by impositions on the airlines as this is particularly urgent in view of the fact that US carriers are already receiving government assistance in the areas of insurance and security costs. Similarly, other suppliers should be willing to take a realistic look at prices and payment terms in the light of the catastrophic situation; this includes everyone from the aircraft manufacturers to the fuel companies to the ramp handling agencies."

So, How Serious Is The Risk Of Catching SARS Inflight?

Actually, quite small, say health officials - especially if the plane involved doesn't travel to Asia. Dr. Mark Rosen, chief of pulminary and critical care at New York's Beth Israel Hospital, tells MSNBC.com, “If the travel is in the United States, South America or Europe, I wouldn’t lose any sleep worrying about SARS. Of course you don’t know for sure, but life is full of uncertainty. If you want a guarantee of being safe, stay home and close the door.”

FMI: www.cdc.gov, www.aapairlines.org