Caught headcold on EK209
 

This was my first time flying Emirates, on a rt flight from EWR to Athens, and I was very impressed, the seats are comfortable and the food above average. However, the circulating air exiting the overhead vents was at full blast, so much so that while sitting in the window row and I had to close a vent in the middle row. Mid-flight I started sneezing, coughing and really congested and concerned about the pain that I was about to suffer during landing as my ears were already hurting as I could not equalize (it actually it didn't get any worse). I noticed other passengers sneezing and coughing while waiting at the baggage pick up area. Today is the second day of my illness, after leaving work early yesterday.

Did circulating the air at full blast contribute towards spreading sickness? Can I trust that Emirates changes the air filters on schedule, it doesn't seem that they're cutting corners, or are they?

Change of climate + packed cabin = bad luck. I don't know that anyone here can provide info on air fiktet maintenance but I doubt that is the issue, I fly 40+ EK flights in Y every year and never have been sick as a result of one (or shortly after one).

Contrary to that, some of us span the globe multiple times a year. We are exposed to viruses and bacteria from many different places, often sleep deprived from work and travel yet rarely get sick.

Whilst the filters could be a contributing factor there is just too many variables. Especially because the incubation period of colds varies by strain. So think back to whose hand you shook 6 days ago for example. Could it have been someone with a cold?

I would echo and what skywardhunter said and add that last August I woke up sniffling and sneezing, went to work, flew BOS-DXB-NBO and arrived "healed" :D

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.

I imagine asking the pilot to "boost the air" raises a smile or two. How do the FAs reply to your demand?

I did 12 flights in December on a mix of BA & CX. On the 4th or 5th I got food poisoning. Went from minus climate to barely above freezing to tropical then back to barely above freezing. Had a 10 day break from flying then the last two flights. On the last one, a fellow passenger in the same row, was coughing, sneezing and snottering to his hearts content and the inevitable happened. I started sneezing the next day and the inevitable winter cold took full hold.

I wonder if if I should blame BA rather than my fellow passenger who unselfishly spread his germs about the cabin?

In all seriousness, hundreds of humans in a crowded and confined environment coming from a departure point in the midst of winter, there were were bound to have been one or two who boarded with a common cold and unselfishly shared their germs. The risks of public transport.

Hope you get better soon.

S

If you caught something on the flight the incubation period is in most cases longer than the flight, so won't manifest on the flight.

I see a lot of posts on this forum where people have genuine grievances against the airline and have every right to complain.

This is not one of those cases.

Traveler contracts common, highly transferable communal illness

Details at six..

Let us know how many skyward miles you get.

I don't demand, I beg! I am a pretty good passenger and very careful to treat the FAs with gloved hands. The pilots boost the air for while then go back to starving the cabin of air, saving the airline some money, I guess.

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.

I suspect you probably had a cold before you boarded and the cabin conditions exacerbated the symptoms.

Actually, he does have a point, but not today though...
 

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.