As well as wondering why flight attendantsnever seem to salute raging drinksand why airplane windows have thosetiny little holes in them , you may have inquire at some point why so few fender have beard .

While it ’s not a Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) insurance policy , several big airline do have strict policy about facial hair . American Airlines , for example , requires their pilots to be fresh - shaved before reporting for duty .

" We do not leave pilots with facial fuzz to be on active duty , " an American Airlines spokesperson explain toThrillist . " It ’s actually safety driven . Safety is one of the biggest , most important things in our industry . "

American airlines goes as far as not allowing " jumpseaters " – off duty airline business crew occupying free collapsible seats in the aircraft – to havebeards or goatees .   Some airline do allow you to have some facial fuzz , although you are limited to aneatly trimmed goateeor mustache . Delta will let mutton chop as long as they do n’t reach down past the midriff of the ear , while mustache are allowed too if they do n’t reach past the nook of the sassing .

" Three democratic TSO - approved crewmember O masks equip with mask - mounted governor were tested to determine if a decrement in carrying out would go on as a result of the presence of facial hair , " thereport explainsof one such study . " The data point resulting from these tests indicated that decrement in execution does occur when facial hair is present along the sealing surface of crew oxygen masque . This decrement is relative to the amount of facial whisker present , the type masque worn , the reprieve organization associated with the mask , and the exercising story to which the someone is subjected . "

One of the studies find outflow between 16 and 67 percent for passengers sporting beards underneath their atomic number 8 masque . This rubber - worry is exacerbated by the physical natural process of crew member , which raises their ventilation rate and increases their risk of hypoxia .

While all air hose permit rider to have facial tomentum – it ’s unbelievably rare that they would be ask to do complex duties like flying the planer – contract flow of air due to a big bushy beard could be a problem for them too in an emergency office .

" The leakage of ambient air due to face fungus does not let an adequate percentage of oxygen to be presented to the lower portion of the respirator tract . The proper performance of the uninterrupted flow mask relies on having the with child denseness of oxygen present at the beginning of inspiration ( taking a breath or inhaling ) with dilution of O allow during the latter phase of inspiration . The immersion of oxygen and the inspiration phase during which it is breathe in are more vital ingredient than the entire oxygen take in , " the report retain .

" barbate rider might expect some shortage in oxygenation following a decompression that could lead to varying degrees of hypoxia ( physiologic conditions that leave when the body does not receive enough O ) . If the masquerade party is properly don and usual emergency descent procedures can be watch , the shortage in oxygenation might not be severe enough to be aliveness - threatening , but could cause loss of consciousness . "

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[ H / T : Thrillist ]