No Aircraft
No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy; Environment - Non Weather Related; Human Factors; Procedure
Thank you for all the work you're undoubtedly doing these days. A concern; which probably has been brought up; but I hope our safety guys are working on it actively.  Well; two concerns; related.1 - Masks.  Judging from my last trip; most pilots and FAs are not wearing masks at all.  I know that the official guidance has shifted; but it really seems that our Company could do a better job of promoting the idea that wearing masks isn't to protect yourself as much as it is to protect others; in case you're infected and don't know it.  Unless we get better and clearer guidance and expectations; I don't expect pilots to all of the sudden decide it is time to wear masks.  It goes against a lot of deeply ingrained western norms.It seems that many have the idea that if you can't get 100% protection; why bother.  We're in the cockpit so who cares about on the van or in the airport.  I think this is exactly wrong; apparently the 'viral load' is important and anything that reduces your 'initial dose' could lessen the severity of any subsequent illness.  Apparently this is one reason they suspect that lots of healthy/young doctors/nurses are getting pretty bad cases; because they have so much exposure.  Which brings me to the related concern?2 - Cockpit social distancing.  It is obviously impossible to properly social distance while flying with another pilot in the cockpit.  The problem [is]; the furthest away we can possibly get is 2 feet.  That's an issue; I'm not aware of any other work environment that is so close and wearing a mask is currently prohibited.  We need Company and Union and FAA Safety all to push and approve masks in the cockpit.  Presumably someone could run a pretty quick experiment in a high altitude pressure chamber where they test various masks versus blood oxygenation using pulse oximeters.  I'm pretty certain that surgical type masks wouldn't present a problem; the N95s or homemade ones might as they could interfere with the seal; but a surgical mask seems benign on that count.  Anyway; if Company and the FAA for that matter; really intend to keep the airlines flying; then they need to relax this mask in the cockpit rule and explicitly approve it. We can't maintain 6 feet and most of us aren't wearing a mask.  So a Pilot who wears one is protecting the guy he's flying with; but if his Co-Pilot isn't wearing one; it sort of defeats the purpose.
Air carrier pilot reported concerns with the inability to maintain proper social distancing in the cockpit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reporter suggested guidelines should allow for pilots to wear surgical masks in the cockpit during this time to minimize COVID-19 exposure.