Originally Posted by
awayIgo
I fly business on El Al. I've been on hot flights and I've been on cold flights. As already said, there is cold outside air and hot engine air. It doesn't cost anything. The temps can be adjusted. Just ask. BUT, realize if most of the people are cold and you are hot--they are not going to turn it lower just for you!
Actually it does cost the airline money in terms of fuel. A few years back I was on a UA 772 flight (back then it was CO) b/w PEK and EWR. Sat in 1A in BF. The captain, who was Israeli (I could tell by his accent when he made the announcements), came out of the cockpit and hung out in the galley b/w the 2 BF cabins. I struck up a conversation with him and somehow we started discussing fuel burn and cabin air temps. He explained to me the mechanics behind a/c cabin air circulation, heating, and cooling, and how it increases fuel burn.
Perhaps it's a policy or standard practice at EL AL today not to adjust a cabin temp per customer request, but I can say that on all the airlines I flew and asked for the cabin temp to be adjusted (on UA, NZ, LH) they acceded to my request. Even back in the day when I was a GL with LY (when GL was the highest attainable status) whenever I would ask for cabin temp adjustment they would do it.