Can You Ask Your Plane Seat Mate to Wear a Mask?

Despite the plentiful studies showing that masks can suppress the spread of viruses, including COVID-19, many passengers are choosing to forgo them. And as one United Airlines passenger recently learned, asking your seatmate to “mask up” could even get you in trouble. 

In early March, Redditor Lex_Mariner took to the United Airlines subreddit to vent about an experience with a passenger who appeared to be ill sitting next to them. 

“[I] had a wet-coughing, sneezing, nose-dripping lady sit next to me. I asked her quite [civilly] if she would consider wearing a mask,” Mariner wrote. “She immediately went off on a loud ‘you have no right' tirade and pushed the call button. I was reprimanded by the [flight attendant] for just making such a request.” 

According to Mariner, the attendant told them they could not ask another passenger to “mask up,” and they were then reseated away from their spouse. And not just to any seat. They were reseated out of their economy plus aisle seat and placed in a middle seat “near the toilets.” 

“After I was reseated, a large enforcer came on the plane to ask me, ‘Are you going to be a problem?' My new seatmates must have wondered what minor felony I must have committed. Even mild-mannered million milers can still learn something new every boarding,” Mariner wrote. 

The post received thousands of upvotes and nearly 2,000 comments, most of which supported asking the passenger to wear a mask. But is it actually OK to ask another traveler to mask? Here's what some experts have to say.

What is the proper etiquette?

From an etiquette standpoint, there may be another way. “While making a polite request to a fellow passenger isn't necessarily out of the question, often it's more efficient to discreetly notify a crew member first for assistance,” Nick Leighton, an etiquette expert and co-host of the weekly podcast “Were You Raised By Wolves?” told Travel + Leisure. “You never know what kind of reaction you might get from a fellow passenger, so looping in the crew can help minimize these sorts of confrontations.”

What do medical experts say?

Even medical experts agree this may be the best path. “It's reasonable to ask a person who appears to be sick to put on a mask—plain old decency,” Raymond Gadd, a general practitioner at Hola Health, told T+L. “But today, even something as easy as that can start an argument. Pandemic fatigue, opinion, and a lack of tolerance have made something as trivial as a mask a sensitive topic.”

Gadd warned passengers are breathing recirculated air on flights, which is “the perfect breeding ground for colds and flu.” And, yes, most carriers have high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, but those don't do much if you're sitting next to someone continuously sneezing and coughing.

If you are stuck next to someone who appears ill, Gadd said to reach out to a flight attendant. “They are trained to handle such situations and could switch you or tell the person to mask up,” he said. “Just don't expect them to remove someone from the flight if they have a runny nose.”

And while masking is most effective when two people do it, Gadd noted you can still try to protect yourself by wearing a fitted mask, washing your hands, and using hand sanitizer. And if you're the one who has a cough, “a little politeness—covering your mouth, mask if you have one—goes a long way toward maintaining public decency.”

What is the airlines policy?

A federal judge in Florida ruled against mandatory mask mandates for travelers, including those on trains and public transportation back in April 2022. Immediately, major carriers like Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines dropped requirements, making it entirely up to guests to choose to wear a mask or not.

As for United, it notes on its facts page: “You can wear a mask if you choose, but they're no longer required on domestic flights. If you're flying internationally, whether a mask is required depends on the arrival country's mask requirements.”

However, the airline's “contract of carriage,” which you agree to by booking a flight, states that the airline “shall have the right to refuse transport on a permanent or temporary basis or shall have the right to remove from the aircraft at any point, any Passenger for the following reasons … Passengers who refuse to wear a mask or face covering while at the airport and/or onboard UA and United Express flights if UA or United Express believe, in their sole discretion, that a failure to wear such a mask or facial covering may pose a risk to the health or safety of others.” 

So, while the crew can refuse service to a sick passenger, the contract also noted, “UA reserves the right to reseat a Passenger for any reason.”

How Other Travelers Reacted to the Situation

As for Mariner, they made it off the flight ok. But as they noted, their spouse was left across the aisle from the ill passenger and “caught a similar cold a few days later—coincidence?!” 

One Reddit user said behavior like this “should not go unpunished,” and another said the original Reddit poster should “file the appropriate complaints.” A different user advised: “Next time just bring your own mask. People who travel despite being ill aren't likely to be reasonable.”

Another user, claiming to be a flight attendant, responded saying, “I’m sorry that happened. I’m the [flight attendant] that will insist that they wear a mask.”