Being a pilot has its perks — but it might cost you.
Beards are barred on most major airlines, meaning pilots may have to abandon their signature scruffy look when reporting to the cockpit.
While it isn’t an official policy enforced by the Federal Aviation Administration, a spokesperson told Thrillist that the facial hair may impact safety.
“We do not have any regulation — like a clean shaving regulation — but a lot of airlines have policies requiring pilots to have no beards or minimal beards to ensure that oxygen masks fit snugly if they’re needed,” the FAA rep explained.
“We require oxygen masks to be functional, and airlines may take it further and require that pilots be clean-shaven or have minimal beards to ensure that.”
On Delta Airlines, pilots are prohibited from having facial hair due to “the need for an oxygen mask to maintain a good seal,” they told Thrillist, and American Airlines enforces a similar policy.
“We do not allow pilots with facial hair to be on active duty,” a spokesperson told the outlet. “It’s actually safety driven. Safety is one of the biggest, most important things in our industry.”
The safety concerns over in-air facial hair date back to an FAA circular published in 1987, per Thrillist. It included a study, “The Influence of Beards on Oxygen Mask Efficiency,” concluding that crew members would not be able to secure an oxygen mask quickly, nor would it “seal effectively,” in the case of an emergency should they have a beard.
According to IFL Science, another study in the 1987 review found that there was anywhere between 16% to 67% leakage out of oxygen masks for those who sported beards, determining that there was enough leakage to cause a lack of oxygen flow to the lungs.
Passengers, of course, are permitted to have facial hair, but they likely won’t be asked to perform energy-exerting activities — which raises breathing rates — like crew members would be.