Merry Christmas! Yup, you are right, airline passengers receive a lot more radiation exposure than people on the ground, but unless you are on aircraft almost constantly, there's not much incremental risk. Airline flight crew and flight attendants might be at more risk as they do spend a lot of time at altitude. BTW, FAA controlers typically assign pilots the altitude at which to fly. Pilots can request different altitudes to attain better fuel economy or passenger comfort (less turbulence). Those are the determing factors, for Southwest and all airlines. So your premise that Southwest planes consistently fly at higher altitudes than planes of other carriers is basically incorrect. Further, I suspect the difference in radiation exposure of a passenger flying at 40,000 feet isn't a whle lot more than a passenger flying at 38,000 feet. Atmospheric protection is highest where the atmosphere is the most dense -- ground level to 10,000 feet. The atmosphere is pretty thin above 30,000 feet.
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