While I was vegging out over the weekend I caught an episode of Airline on A&E. For those who haven't seen it, it's one of those 'reality' shows where they follow the day-to-day activities of Southwest Airlines and some of its passengers. In this case a woman became irate and caused a scene when the airline wouldn't let her grandmother on the plane with her medical oxygen. She claimed to have planned the trip months in advance. If she'd really been that prepared she'd have known that oxygen containers are not allowed on passenger flights. Southwest in particular has no provision for medical oxygen (see here). If a person can't travel without oxygen, that person can't travel on Southwest. Other airlines can accomodate medical oxygen, although as far as I can tell none of them will allow a passenger to bring their own container (either in the cabin or as checked baggage). It makes sense, since you're dealing with a pressurized container in a low-pressure environment (airline cabins are pressurized, but not to normal sea-level; they tend maintain a pressure similar to 7000 or 8000 ft. above sea-level). A quick check of American Airlines shows that you have to notify them in advance and they charge $100 per flight leg (see here).
I felt sorry for the Southwest employees because they were being abused pretty badly by this woman over something they can't change. Maybe I'm just a nervous traveller, but I always check this kind of stuff ahead of time. I'm continually amazed at people who make a stink over something that they could have avoided if they'd done the tinest bit of research. All this woman would have had to do was to call the airline and ask about the oxygen.
Anyhow, I probably wouldn't have written anything about it, except that I came across this article today.
Aircraft with dangerously low levels of oxygen could cause major respiratory problems for passengers.The woman on the show tried to call the doctor to get a release so she could fly without oxygen. I guess it's a good thing that the doctor refused. If she'd been successful in bullying the doctor into releasing the grandmother to fly without oxygen and she'd died, I bet she would have sued the doctor and the airline. Posted by Aubrey at March 23, 2004 07:21 PM | TrackBack
Scientists have issued the warning after studying cabin pressure and associated oxygen levels for 300 hours on 80 domestic and international aircraft.
A respiratory scientist at Concord Hospital in Sydney, Leigh Seccombe, said oxygen levels may be too low for people with lung and respiratory illnesses to travel safely, even though aircraft met current safety standards.
In the study, to be presented at the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand's annual congress in Sydney next week, patients with minor lung and respiratory diseases could not get enough oxygen in a simulated aircraft cabin.