Caught headcold on EK209
#16
Original Poster


Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,742
What does "boost the air" mean? Do you mean increase the air conditioning (i.e. make it colder? warmer?)
Airplanes don't have to pull over to fill up on air, nor is air charged at $1/litre or whatever, I assume you refer to fuel saving, which would be extraordinarily insignificant. Regardless, the cabin temperature is not controlled by the pilots, but rather by the cabin supervisor with the touch-screens in the cabin, with each "section" of each cabin being individually controlled. If your request ever gets to the pilot they're certainly having a laugh at it
The quantity of air in the cabin, since you appear to refer to that as well, is static, and very carefully controlled, as this determines the pressure altitude of the cabin, usually 3000-6000ft.
Airplanes don't have to pull over to fill up on air, nor is air charged at $1/litre or whatever, I assume you refer to fuel saving, which would be extraordinarily insignificant. Regardless, the cabin temperature is not controlled by the pilots, but rather by the cabin supervisor with the touch-screens in the cabin, with each "section" of each cabin being individually controlled. If your request ever gets to the pilot they're certainly having a laugh at it
The quantity of air in the cabin, since you appear to refer to that as well, is static, and very carefully controlled, as this determines the pressure altitude of the cabin, usually 3000-6000ft.
On occasions when I asked to "boost the air", the cabin felt hot with no air coming out of the overhead vents.
#17




Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,791
If that's the case then the FA did me a disservice, I complained about the excessive amount of air blowing straight at me and she pointed to the ceiling, said it was the a/c and continued on her way. It was so uncomfortable that I even placed a jacket over my head. I was seated on row 19.
On occasions when I asked to "boost the air", the cabin felt hot with no air coming out of the overhead vents.
On occasions when I asked to "boost the air", the cabin felt hot with no air coming out of the overhead vents.
#18
Original Poster


Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,742
Back in the 1990's Northwest Airlines had an experimental program for fuel saving across the pacific. They would shut down one (or two I can't remember) engine bleeds and one of the Packs (Air conditioners) during cruise. I remember riding jumpseat on a few of those flights with a friend of mine. The pilots specially briefed the cabin crew that they would be shutting down the pack and to call the cockpit if it got too "stuffy" in the back. Well, that was the old smoking days on the Tokyo Run so this program failed miserably, predictably, and quickly. After one summer trial, the air was not switched off any more!
In any event, this was back on the old 747-200 with a flight engineer that had a bit more granular control over these systems. On today's aircraft this would not be possible, as the air systems are all computer optimized. So the bottom line is there is no "boosting" nor "starving" of the air supplies. It's running all the time regardless.
In any event, this was back on the old 747-200 with a flight engineer that had a bit more granular control over these systems. On today's aircraft this would not be possible, as the air systems are all computer optimized. So the bottom line is there is no "boosting" nor "starving" of the air supplies. It's running all the time regardless.
#19
Original Poster


Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,742
#21




Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 5,482
The middle vents in Y can be a bit misleading - if you are sitting in say D, sometimes its air flowing from the vent above F/G thats blowing on to you (e.g. other pax have moved them for much the same reasons as you!)
#22
Original Poster


Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,742
Definitely! Luckily I was fine during the entire 7-day trip to Athens and Israel. The reason I question the air venting at full blast is that I often complain that there's not enough air and ask the fa to tell the pilot to boost the air, and this the first time I got sick right after flying (mostly long-haul) for the past 40 years.
#23
Suspended
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 36
Probably not!
Id be fairly confident Emirates air filters would have nothing to do with this, otherwise youd see it happening on a regular basis! This sort of thing happens rarely, but does happen and doesnt tend to favour one airline over another. Just consider that many people are in close proximity for a long time. For example, it seems to happen quite regularly on cruise ships, where of course the incubation period is longer. They of course dont have Emirates air filters though!
Also, pilots are unable to boost air. Whatever that means.
Id be fairly confident Emirates air filters would have nothing to do with this, otherwise youd see it happening on a regular basis! This sort of thing happens rarely, but does happen and doesnt tend to favour one airline over another. Just consider that many people are in close proximity for a long time. For example, it seems to happen quite regularly on cruise ships, where of course the incubation period is longer. They of course dont have Emirates air filters though!
Also, pilots are unable to boost air. Whatever that means.
#25
Join Date: Sep 2012
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 19
Yes they do. Often in the region of 2-5 days for the 'common cold' viruses. Only influenza viruses have really short (average) incubation periods of about 1.5 days for influenza A and about half a day for influenza B (mostly caught by children).
You can see the science here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4327893/
You can see the science here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4327893/
#26
Original Poster


Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,742
https://www.cdc.gov › coronavirus › clin...
Sep 14, 2017 The median incubation period for secondary cases associated with limited human-to-human transmission is approximately 5 days (range 2-14 days). In MERS-CoV patients, the median time from illness onset to hospitalization is approximately 4 days.
#28

Join Date: Feb 2002
Programs: UA-Gold MM, SPG Plat
Posts: 426
What does "boost the air" mean? Do you mean increase the air conditioning (i.e. make it colder? warmer?)
Airplanes don't have to pull over to fill up on air, nor is air charged at $1/litre or whatever, I assume you refer to fuel saving, which would be extraordinarily insignificant.
Airplanes don't have to pull over to fill up on air, nor is air charged at $1/litre or whatever, I assume you refer to fuel saving, which would be extraordinarily insignificant.
Maybe a pilot or engineer can chime in if I'm way off base, but in any case I can't imagine that recirculation fan settings is something that pilots would routinely have to adjust. I remember reading somewhere that on some aircraft there is just a NORMAL and a HIGH setting. At the end of the day there is some merit to the idea of fresh vs dirty air onboard aircraft. I think the cockpit receives no re-circulated air at all, and the people at the back near the outflow valve get to breathe in all the 'dirty' air. Besides, there are other possible sources of air contamination onboard aircraft besides fellow passengers...for those who may not be aware, google 'aircraft toxic fume events' or similar.
#29
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,439
It's so funny when people piece together some random ideas and play engineer/scientist. FWIW, the people who got sick on the EK flight to NY are believed to have contracted flu in Saudi Arabia.
#30
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Europe
Programs: EK plat, ex-FB gold, Accor plat
Posts: 1,074
MERS-CoV Clinical Features of MERS Infection CDC
https://www.cdc.gov coronavirus clin...
Sep 14, 2017 The median incubation period for secondary cases associated with limited human-to-human transmission is approximately 5 days (range 2-14 days). In MERS-CoV patients, the median time from illness onset to hospitalization is approximately 4 days.
https://www.cdc.gov coronavirus clin...
Sep 14, 2017 The median incubation period for secondary cases associated with limited human-to-human transmission is approximately 5 days (range 2-14 days). In MERS-CoV patients, the median time from illness onset to hospitalization is approximately 4 days.



