Duck1981

Hi Guys

We were travelling on the BA104 yesterday (DXB - LHR 1215pm).

Once we came in, the aircraft was freezing and this did not change the first 30min into the flight. At that time, the woman in front of us complained (I was thinking at that time that maybe my cold was the reason why I feel like in the freezer and others think its comfortable) and they adjusted the temperature so it became somewhat comfortable. Another 30min in the flight, back to the beginning and all the pax ahead of me (we were in row 43) started to wear hoodies, hats, winter jackets, and had their blankets up to their head.

I went to the galley and asked for a temperature adjustment which was kindly undertaken, so it was then just cold, but not freezing anymore. The inflight manager asked me if too hot or too cold, and one of the more junior cabin crew ladies said 'yes, its very cold' (why she did not adjust it then is something I have no clue of).

My questions:

Is they plane disconnected from power during ground at DXB so it overheats and crew set the air con to max when entering the plane?

Is there a standard temp setting, like say 21,5 degrees C?

My dad was a train manager for the German Railway and he always adjusted the temp when he walked through the train and saw the people wrapped up, proactively. Is it worth to give feedback to BA about this or is it such a minor service issue that no one cares (not after points or anything, really just to give feedback). Got some decent fever last night which was most likely made worse to the cold in the plane (but yes, I will do my day 2 test today, so if the whole plane gets tracked and traced, it is because of me )

Cheers

hydro001

The service standard is to set the temp at 21 degrees Celsius.

If adjusted at large intervals e.g. more than 0.5 degrees frequently throughout the flight on some aircraft types, the air con just goes from one extreme to another and cannot regulate properly.

There is an indication on the screen what the actual temperature is and what the target is, though from experience, sometimes the cabin does feel cooler or warmer than what is indicated. On some aircraft types sometimes the front half is cool and back half of the cabin is warm but the crew can only adjust the temperature for the whole cabin.

Jack Union

I will never complain about a cabin being too cold. In July 19, I was on an LHR-JFK that was delayed because the plane had been sitting in the sun all day and was deemed too warm to let passengers on. After about 40 minutes of them trying to cool it down we finally commenced boarding into what was a sauna within a metal tube. After a slow boarding process, a passenger decided they wanted to offload due to the temperature on board, which delayed the plane even further. As we finally taxied onto the runway a crew member took unwell (assume heat exhaustion/heat stroke). Had to taxi back to a remote stand for medical assistance. They wouldn't run the APU due to fuel, so we sat again for another 40 minutes with the only ventilation being an open front and rear door.

I was excited for take off, assuming once in the air the aircon would be on full blast assisted by cool outside air temperatures. Oh how I was wrong. The cabin temp must have been between 26-30 for the duration of the flight. Even after asking the crew to cool the plane it stayed warm. By the time I got to NYC I spent the weekend in bed feeling the after affects of such a warm plane. Anyway, rant over. Point is its easier to add layers and get warm in a cool cabin, than it is to cool off in a warm cabin. Unless you want people strutting around the Club Kitchen in their Birthday suit.

justin_krusty

In my experience it�s usually too warm on most carriers, including BA. I�d take too cold any day, can always rug up. When it�s too hot there�s not much you can do, especially if there�s no overhead vents.

FlightDetective

I agree, I'd take cold over hot. The only way I can sleep is when the cabin is nice and cool. I have no chance if the cabin is warm in any way, though I think some crew must think warm cabin equals sleep, judging by some of the flights I've been on.

S_W_S

On the overnight back from AUH a few years ago it was set at 28c (and remained there until I complained after take off), the response I got was something along the lines of not overloading the AC on the ground. Even after complaining it was only dropped to 26c.

Scots_Al

Even the typical setting of 21C seems very warm to me! I would hope most people under the age of 70 wouldn�t have their home thermostats set that high (ours is typically 18-19C).

mtofell

Wow..... yeah, I would love to be too cold sometime on a plane. Some of my most miserable times have been sitting at the gate in Vegas or Hawaii with everyone sweating profusely.

ISTFlyer

In Turkey the standard is 24 degrees Celsius.
To be honest, I would prefer to have a T-shirt and short with a 21-22 degrees Celsius cabin temperature rather than asking for a blanket and wearing a hoodie on a 18 degrees Celsius cabin temperature.

azepine00

ummm mine is 26-27 and very few here in socal have it below 23-25.. (and those who do in a single family house probably end up with electricity bill of $500-1000/mo)..

Cabin temp should be aligned with climate outside- 25 is too warm in wiinter in europe with everyone traveling wearing a lot but perfectly fine in summer if only have t-shirt on..

anniegray

wow that�s absolutely freezing to me!

JAXBA

I think that's the difference between houses having heating only (as usual in the UK) or cooling a house with AC (as usual in the US).

My parents heated their UK house to 19-20�C in the winter. I still consider normal room temperature to be 20�C/68�F, but that doesn't really apply here in Florida, where I cool my house to 23�C/74�F most of the year, and heat it to 20-21�C/68-69�F in winter (my Floridian wife would like it even warmer in winter...)

fastflyer

This must generate a spectacular air conditioning bill (LOL, I see you are from Glasgow)

Seriously, in Florida, we keep it at 68, which is 20 and it's plenty cool. I like transport to be on the cool side, but I think 21 is cool enough. 19 or below would be chilling. Likewise, anything over 23 would be too warm for comfort.

We don't even have a heater at home in PB -- when the rare "cold front" comes through and the temp drops to 59 (15), all the ladies get out their furs and pashminas. OTT.

Geordie405

My most recent flight on a 787-10 was LHR - DFW and it was a bit chilly. I ended up putting a hoodie on for the latter half of the flight.

In terms of AC, we're in Las Vegas so during the summer we have ours set to 26C / 78F which is generally fine. In the winter we heat the house to around 20 C / 68 F although it's actually rare that we have to have the heating on. In the summer our bills are around $260 a month for electricity, but it averages out to roughly $140 a month over the year which is what we pay on the equal payment plan.

13901

One thing that might've affected the OP's experience could be some sort of malfunction with the aircon packs on the aircraft. There can be situations where part of a cabin is freezing, or roasting, and other parts aren't.

Another issue is airflow. Because of things like bulkheads, curtains, partitions and so on the airflow on the plane (and therefore the temperature) might be a bit wonky, although this tends to happen on the other end of the scale (hot rather than cold). An infamous repeat offender was the ex-BMI G-MEDx fleet, the one with the Thomson seats. The first seats in economy behind the bulkhead had a restricted airflow and that often made them very hot.

I also found First in the 789s, especially the right-hand side, to be a tad warm especially compared with the galley.