Is There Something Wrong With the New A330neo?

Crew members and passengers are complaining that the new Airbus A330NEO aircraft are making them sick. At least a dozen reports of air travelers falling ill prompted the European aircraft manufacturer to conduct a month-long investigation into the claims. Airbus reported that initial testing revealed no indication of any problem with the planes.

Labor leaders have complained that crew members and some passengers have reported symptoms including, nausea, dizziness and vomiting onboard a number of Airbus A330NEO flights. Airbus counters, however, that a month-long investigation into potential air quality issues, undertaken at the request of TAP Air Portugal crews, found “no irregularities or abnormalities.”

According to Live and Let Fly, which first reported the string of possible toxic air events, airline and Airbus officials have suggested that climate control issues rather than fumes are the likely cause of the complaints. A TAP spokesperson indicated that unpleasant odors on new planes are expected and are a short term problem that generally goes away on its own.

“In some new units of the A330neo, some odors from air-conditioning equipment may have been detected, it is considered normal in new aircraft and disappears soon after first use,” TAP officials told reporters. “We would never put its customers and workers at risk for their health. The tests already carried out by both TAP and Airbus do not allow any correlation between these episodes and a hypothetical but not demonstrated deficiency in circulation and air renewal.”

Airbus is not alone in having to defend its planes against claims that cabin air is making crew members and passengers ill. A growing number of so-called “toxic air events” have been reported on both Boeing and Airbus manufactured aircraft. In several serious cases planes have been required to make unscheduled landings and passengers have been rushed to the emergency rooms.

“Most Americans go to work with the expectation of breathing clean air, but until we achieve better standards for cabin air quality, flight attendants don’t have this guarantee,” Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) International President Sara Nelson said in a statement calling on lawmakers to pass “Cabin Air Safety Act” legislation.

[Featured Image: Flickr/ airbus777]