Originally Posted by
Olton Hall
The AC really only needs to run when on the ground. Once you get up in the air they heat the cabin since it's well below zero outside.
You are 100% incorrect. At altitude, the air is cooled by heat exchangers and air conditioners before it is released inside the cabin.
Originally Posted by
Olton Hall
I could have melted on a NW DC-9 last summer (100 air temp in MSP) that was a back up plane bakeing in the sun all day long. Once we got airborn it was fine but we were all drenched from sweat by then.
That's because the air conditioners work much better when the airplane is at altitude.
Here's a thread from the AA forum begun yesterday on this very subject:
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=727069