Okay, blog fans, raise your hands if you’ve ever been on a flight with someone with bad cold or flu sitting next to you. Typical commercial aircraft recirculate air to effect a change in that lovely breathing gas between 20 and 30 times an hour. Yes, most of them do use active charcoal, HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filters to be sure, but occasionally they try and minimize the amount of fresh air that is added (because it has to be pressurized and heated before being blended in with the existing air). Ideally, the mix is 50% fresh with 50% recirculated. But it’s nasty up there.
“Recently, trends in design and operation minimize the introduction of outside air into the cabin. This is principally because outside air must first be pressurized through the engines, and this ‘bleeding’ of air reduces efficiency and increases fuel consumption. For this reason, a higher ratio of ‘captive’ cabin air is being recirculated. The tradeoff for fuel cost savings is that people aboard the craft are subjected to more particulate pollutants as well as viruses and bacteria. Because of the confined atmosphere, low humidity conditions, reduced oxygen level, fatigued/jet lagged passengers and many other factors, potential ill-effects from airborne contaminants is far greater in this environment.” From the website of HEPA-filter-maker, Purolator Facet. Sounds good, but as competition pushes unnecessary costs literally out the window, airlines are inclined to change those filters a little less frequently and recirculate a little bit more.
Which is all fine and good except for one additional variable that impacts modern air travel, particularly in economy class. Sardining more people into smaller spaces. “Over the last two decades, the space between seats — hardly roomy before — has fallen about 10 percent, from 34 inches to somewhere between 30 and 32 inches. Today, some airlines are pushing it even further, leaving only a knee-crunching 28 inches.
“To gain a little more space, airlines are turning to a new generation of seats that use lighter materials and less padding, moving the magazine pocket above the tray table and even reducing or eliminating the recline in seats. Some are even reducing the number of galleys and bathrooms.
“Southwest, the nation’s largest domestic carrier, is installing seats with less cushion and thinner materials — a svelte model known in the business as ‘slim-line.’ It also is reducing the maximum recline to two inches from three. These new seats allow Southwest to add another row, or six seats, to every flight — and add $200 million a year in newfound revenue.” New York Times, December 22nd. Oh, yum! But at least most of Southwest’s service is short-hop flights.
On the other hand, Americans a definitely filling up more space: “Travelers are also getting bigger. In the last four decades, the average American gained a little more than 20 pounds and his or her waist expanded about 2.5 inches, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The dimensions of airplanes, however, have not changed and neither has the average width of a coach seat, which is 17 to 18 inches.” NY Times.
Okay, blog fans, raise your hands if you’ve ever been on a flight with someone with bad cold or flu sitting next to you. Typical commercial aircraft recirculate air to effect a change in that lovely breathing gas between 20 and 30 times an hour. Yes, most of them do use active charcoal, HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filters to be sure, but occasionally they try and minimize the amount of fresh air that is added (because it has to be pressurized and heated before being blended in with the existing air). Ideally, the mix is 50% fresh with 50% recirculated. But it’s nasty up there.
“Recently, trends in design and operation minimize the introduction of outside air into the cabin. This is principally because outside air must first be pressurized through the engines, and this ‘bleeding’ of air reduces efficiency and increases fuel consumption. For this reason, a higher ratio of ‘captive’ cabin air is being recirculated. The tradeoff for fuel cost savings is that people aboard the craft are subjected to more particulate pollutants as well as viruses and bacteria. Because of the confined atmosphere, low humidity conditions, reduced oxygen level, fatigued/jet lagged passengers and many other factors, potential ill-effects from airborne contaminants is far greater in this environment.” From the website of HEPA-filter-maker, Purolator Facet. Sounds good, but as competition pushes unnecessary costs literally out the window, airlines are inclined to change those filters a little less frequently and recirculate a little bit more.
Which is all fine and good except for one additional variable that impacts modern air travel, particularly in economy class. Sardining more people into smaller spaces. “Over the last two decades, the space between seats — hardly roomy before — has fallen about 10 percent, from 34 inches to somewhere between 30 and 32 inches. Today, some airlines are pushing it even further, leaving only a knee-crunching 28 inches.
“To gain a little more space, airlines are turning to a new generation of seats that use lighter materials and less padding, moving the magazine pocket above the tray table and even reducing or eliminating the recline in seats. Some are even reducing the number of galleys and bathrooms.
“Southwest, the nation’s largest domestic carrier, is installing seats with less cushion and thinner materials — a svelte model known in the business as ‘slim-line.’ It also is reducing the maximum recline to two inches from three. These new seats allow Southwest to add another row, or six seats, to every flight — and add $200 million a year in newfound revenue.” New York Times, December 22nd. Oh, yum! But at least most of Southwest’s service is short-hop flights.
On the other hand, Americans a definitely filling up more space: “Travelers are also getting bigger. In the last four decades, the average American gained a little more than 20 pounds and his or her waist expanded about 2.5 inches, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The dimensions of airplanes, however, have not changed and neither has the average width of a coach seat, which is 17 to 18 inches.” NY Times.
How about this solution: “The Sydney Morning Herald explains that passengers on Samoa Air, a small regional airline serving the Samoan islands in the South Pacific, are asked to punch in their body weight and the weight of their luggage when booking. Rates range from $1 (Australian) per kilogram on short flights to $4.16 per kilogram on longer ones between Samoa and American Samoa. Passengers and their luggage are weighed again when they get to the airport to make sure they weren't fibbing.” DailyFinance.com, April 2nd. Ouch for most Americans! Butt weight, there’s more!
When you have the ability to recline your seat, after the pilot has given the sign, most folks correctly believe that they have purchased the right to recline that seat to the max. Of course the person sitting behind that reclining passenger might just be sitting up a bit more to do some work on their mini-table… and well, that’s a bit uncomfortable. Like this little vignette from the NY Times: “Rory Rowland said he was rudely rebuffed after he asked the person in front of him not to recline his seat on a red-eye flight. When he later got up to use the bathroom, and the other passenger had fallen asleep, ‘I hip-checked his seat like you wouldn’t believe,’ Mr. Rowland, a speaker and consultant, said, then feigned innocence when the enraged passenger complained to a flight attendant…
“There are ways of resolving conflicts other than bumping into other passengers, as Mr. Rowland, the speaker and consultant, found… ‘I lean forward and tap them on the shoulder and say, ‘I’ll buy you a drink if you don’t push your seat back,’ ’ Mr. Rowland said. ‘It’s made flying very pleasant.’” Some European carriers have taken to eliminating the ability to recline that seat entirely.
Let’s see. Economy class. You aren’t getting free meals on most domestic flights anymore, no pillows or blankets, less leg room, less reclining ability, more people sharing the overhead compartments but extra charges if you want to check a bag, and we are seeing some new aircraft surcharges being added by the new budget bill that will add even more costs to that torturous flight invoice. Oh, and some fool wants to let crammed and jammed people use their cellphones during the flight. Oh, yeah, travel is sooooo much fun. Tell me about some of your horror stories in sardine land.
I’m Peter Dekom, and when it’s a drivable distance, it’s almost always better than flying these days!
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