mike734

When I was flying in Europe I had a full beard. It was cool not having to shave everyday. The O2 mask fit just fine because, if you look at where it fits your face, the seal goes just under your bottom lip where there is not much hair anyway.

The other day I saw one of my Alaska Airlines colleagues with a full beard! I did not ask him about it but the guy sitting next to me said he had permission for some kind of medical problem. Huh. Do you guys know of any other pilots out there with beards?

74plb

I've been flying with a beard at JAL for the past five years or so. The ops manual says facial hair must be neatly trimmed. I did have a checker ask about the O2 mask but he seemed satisfied with my answer. I've been in the chamber several times in the AF and found that unless you have a personal mask fit to your face it is going to leak to some degree. With the diluter set to 100% and ON I don't see a problem in a decompression etc.
I JS with the beard and get a few comments, but as long as there is a seat in the back I haven't had any problems. I did have a flight attendant question how I got away with it. She asked "Don't you care about safety?" I started to explain and she didn't want to hear my explanation...
When I get laid-off next month, the beard is history. The new job says it has to go...
Is there actually a 121 reg that prohibits full beards? Or is it just your company POI that sets the policy?

Pharaoh

As a scuba diving instructor I can vouch for the fact that facial hair (mustache, sideburns, beard on cheek area, full beard) doesn't significantly affect mask perfoemance, even the full face masks some use. I figure that if a mustache won't affect air flow when one is in a water-based life support situation, it certainly won't matter in the air.

Let's also hear from the firemen...

fireman0174

Volunteer fire department. No beards for interior firefighters. Period.