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Fairechild's Passenger Bill of Rights
Airline Mismanagement
Airport Security

Included in the Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR 21), a $40 billion Bill is funding for a 12-month study on passenger cabin air quality by the National Academy of Science.

"AIR 21 is a big disappointment," says Diana Fairechild, founder of The Fair Air Association, an airline passenger advocacy group, and author of five books, including Jet Smarter, a traveler's guide to protection against serious long-standing health hazards of air travel.

"AIR 21 contains no requirement that airlines make any corrections or even follow the new study's findings a year from now. But the worst part is that on every flight today passengers continue to be deprived of fresh oxygen because AIR 21 delays any protection for them-protection from contagious diseases such as TB which can spread in the recycled cabin air, and from exposure to on-board toxic chemicals."

"Passenger cabin air quality was actually researched fourteen years ago by the National Academy of Science and extensive recommendations were made in a 303-page report called The Airliner Cabin Environment," says Fairechild. "This report was published by the National Academy Press in Washington, D.C. (ISBN 0-309-03690-9) and is also available online."

Fairechild strongly suggests that AIR 21 be amended to provide for a citizens' advisory board to review findings of fact and make recommendations. "The citizens group should include frequent flyers who regularly travel in economy because the 1986 study determined that 'First-class and business sections of the cabin might have 2-3 times as high a ventilation rate per occupant as the economy section.'"

The 1986 report also found that the pilots might be getting 10 times as much fresh air as their passengers. The report states: "ventilation per flight crew member might be 10 times as high as that in the cabin, or even higher."

The report recommended that "if the risk of infection [to passengers] is to be minimized, the amount of outside air supplied to each passenger during flight should be maximized."

According to Fairechild, "extensive research already indicates that the cabin of a 747 is one of the most sickening environments in the world. To avoid the cost of processing high-altitude, 'thin' outside air and making it breathable for passengers, the airlines deliberately deprive passengers of fresh oxygen by recycling the air. Airline passengers are forced to breathe recycled air that is dangerously low in oxygen and loaded with shared germs, toxic fumes, and pesticides."

Here are more findings from the 1986 study:

"Aircraft jet engines emit [into the passenger cabins] a variety of potentially toxic substances including carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, hydrocarbons, aldehydes (especially formaldehyde), particles, and polynuclear aromatic compounds."

"Groups that could be at various degrees of risk include those with chronic pulmonary problems, anemia or sickle-cell disease, gastrointestinal problems, neuropsychiatric symptoms, or recent abdominal or eye surgery. Pregnant women should not fly beyond 240 days..."

"The FAA should...require airlines to provide precautionary information to their flight attendants about radiation exposure."

Fairechild calls for a variety of responses to the problem starting with changes in policies for the industry and also for acts of individual self-defense. She offers a number of tips for "Defensive Flying" including:

• Request your pilot (you can send him a note) to use as much fresh air as the plane is capable of, since germs and viruses spread more prolifically in recycled air.

• If the air quality on your flight does not improve, request a portable oxygen bottle from your flight attendant. There are about thirty portable bottles on every 747, and you can get one brought to your seat, free of charge, if you say you are having trouble breathing.

• To help block the spread of contagious diseases as well as to humidify your personal breathing air (the airplane is dryer than a desert) cover your nose with a water-saturated cotton handkerchief, and drink plenty of bottled water throughout your flight.

• Avoid sleeping pills and mind-altering pharmaceuticals on the day you fly. In the event of an emergency, you will need all your faculties in order to survive.

FROM READERS

"Thank you for the work that you have done and for the support of people living near airports. You do a lot of good for people and we are one of those families that appreciate it." --Hans and LaRae Mortensen

"Thanks so much for your information. As I recently contracted flu, which led to pneumonia in the middle of a hectic series of flights, I will now try to pluck up my courage and ask for more oxygen. The only problem is that I'm British, and Brits are notoriously bad at demanding their rights! The book is fantastic, and I hope you sell millions of copies! I'm not convinced that public pressure will change the airlines' minds, unless the support is truly gigantic. At any rate, we should try. Thanks again." -Gareth Morrell

"As a passenger on a 727 on a major airline from Oklahoma City to Philadelphia, I heard this beeping noise. I was kinda joking with my friend about someone's pager going off. Well, after awhile of the beeping, it turned out that it was my Oxygen Indicator Meter sounding its alarm. The oxygen meter I carry lets me know if the oxygen level drops below 19.5%, that is supposed to be the borderline of sustaining human life. Personal indications of oxygen deficiency are: dizziness, light-headedness, and happy/goofy feelings. The whole flight of three hours, my meter continued to sound its alarm; the only way we have of turning them off is to get out of the environment which cannot sustain human life. In my job as a hazardous container inspector, I have to test the atmosphere where I work with an oxygen meter." -name withheld