Everywhere you go these days, there seems to be more and more blokes sporting varying crops of facial hair. The humble beard never seems to go out of fashion, in fact it is gaining in popularity. In the UK alone, a YouGov survey found 54 per cent of men sport some form of facial hair, up from 42 per cent in 2016 and 37 per cent in 2011.
Another survey found 44 per cent of men worldwide have full beards. But the facial fuzz isn't universally loved. READ MORE: The longest world cruises you can book It may be something you've never noticed at an airport, but next time you are there, have a look at pilots on their way to their planes.
Chances are few, if any, have full beards, and there's a simple reason - safety. Sporting a beard could lead to issues with using oxygen masks. A study in 1987 titled The Influence of Beards on Oxygen Mask Efficiency outlined how facial air could impede the efficiency of masks.
"A Department of Navy study reported an average inboard leakage of 16 to 67 per cent for military-type crew oxygen masks when tested with subjects wearing beards to altitudes of 18,000 feet," the report noted. READ MORE: The best day trips from Queenstown for an epic New Zealand adventure "The data resulting from these tests indicated that decrement in performance does occur when facial hair is present along the sealing surface of crew oxygen masks." The Civil Aviation Authority in NZ told Stuff Travel that there are no "explicit written rules specifically addressing pilot dr.
