Journal of Airline Operations and Aviation Management
Correlation Between Cabin Airborne Pathogens and Acute Respiratory Infections in Passengers
(1)
Saint James School of Medicine St. Vincent, Cane Hall Road, Arnos Vale, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, United States
Abstract
Cabin airflow has a greater impact on passenger health than long assumed. Recent CFD modelling and flight data show pathogens spread far beyond the two-row rule, carried five to seven rows and across aisles by passenger heat plumes and ventilation flows. Seat-specific exposure reveals a strong dose–response link, with high-exposed passengers facing over triple the infection risk. Machine learning models further pinpoint clusters with high accuracy.
These findings demand a rethink of in-flight health protocols: airflow design, not seat proximity, drives infection risk. Integrating CFD, epidemiology, and predictive analytics offers aviation medicine a shift from reactive measures to proactive passenger safety.