Harmoncove

Hi all - Traveling back on the Redeye for Gye to Jfk. I've never flown overnight so I have concerns with my sleep apnea. It:s a 9:55 flight arriving at 5:12am. I'm in an EMS seat in row 17. Am I able to use my home cpap machine on the plane? Does anyone know if these seats have a power outlet? I'm looking for any other advice on how to deal with this including just toughening it out and trying to stay awake the whole flight.

Thanks..

GW McLintock

The CPAP must have its own power source such as a battery. You cannot use the in-seat power outlet for your device. What if the outlet doesn't work? Here is a quote from their website:

Often1

The B6 rule is consistent with the policy on most carriers worldwide. Seat power is both unreliable and often insufficient. Thus, you will need battery pack(s) sufficient to cover the length of the flight.

If you figure that you will get about 4 hours of downtime on this flight, will your battery power the CPAP for that long? If not, you may need a second battery with you.

michael1023

i think a portable cpap may be more reasonable, although I think they are usually out of pocket.

on a separate note, i hate these red-eyes from gye-jfk...

twice ive done gye-mia-jfk, and the gye-mia was a similar red eye...i dont understand these flights

Intheair2night

Agreed, it really took the wind out of my sails when B6 finally added JFK-SJO direct flights and the SJO-JFK was a red-eye

flyinggolfer

I'm a little late to the party, but I just used my portable CPAP on a early am flight from JFK to LAX, so I could get a few extra hours of sleep. Since it was only going to be for a couple of hours and I was in Mint, I tried the AC outlet first and it was fine, but if you can't do without the machine, I wouldn't chance it. I've found the AC outlets on all aircraft to be hit or miss, wherever you're seated. Half the time the ac cable won't even stay plugged in to the outlet securely. Although I have the Philips Dreamstation Go, there's much cheaper machine that works very well, the Human Design Z2. As someone else mentioned though, the travel CPAP machines are out of pocket expenses as far as insurance companies are concerned.

GW McLintock

The outlets aren't designed to support such devices. By using the outlet, you risk it shorting out, or in the worst case producing sparks which could start a fire.

-J.

flyinggolfer

Thanks. Out of curiosity, do you know or have a rating on the outlets? I'd like to know because if the Dreamstation Go (pulls between 2.5 and 5.5 amps) is a risk, I should also avoid plugging in my mobile phone charger which draws 7 amps.

Often1

The simple fact is that B6 has made a determination that its onboard power is not suitable. In the wrong setting, this can turn ugly with the crew. The passenger convenience plugs are not on any aircraft's MEL and that puts the Captain in an awkward situation.

"While some of our aircraft have in-seat electrical power, it’s not suitable for medical devices."

The solution really is simple. Battery power.

dtremit

Frankly that’s nonsense. First, most current CPAP power supplies are literally indistinguishable from those used on laptops, with identical wattage and construction.

Second, the outlets are all designed to shut off at any hint of excess power draw.

I wouldn’t count on the outlets to be sufficient, or reliable, but the only danger in trying it out is disagreement with the crew.