If the air quality on your flight is bad, request your flight attendant to ask the pilot to provide passengers with the same air quality he's breathing in the cockpit.

Speak to your flight attendant about the air quality if:

-You are having difficulty concentrating on tasks such as reading or business work.
-Your lungs ache.
-Your skin feels clammy.
-You feel nauseated (and there's no turbulence).
-You have a headache.

ASK FOR BETTER AIR

Gently, kindly, ask your flight attendant (remember s/he is breathing the same air you are): "When you have time, please ask the pilot for less recirculated air and more fresh air because I'm having trouble breathing."

Wait 15 minutes. You'll know if an air pack has been activated:

-You'll find it easier to breathe.
-You'll hear a louder whoosh from the plane's air-conditioning system.

OXYGEN BOTTLE

You may want to ask for an oxygen bottle. There are about 25 portable bottles on every 747. Sipping from a portable oxygen bottle en route helps me to feel markedly better both en route and after landings.

SARS, TB

The latest information about transmission of tuberculosis on jets says that only those passengers seated "near" the contagious individual are at risk!

Hmm, it seems to me it also depends upon where the contagious passenger is seated in relation to the aircraft's air vents and outflow vents, the amount of air being pumped into the cabin, the duration of the flight, the departure location which determines humidity in the cabin for the first few hours, the passenger load, the number of times the contagious individual coughs, if s/he coughs on the way to the lavatory, if you're the next one in that lavatory....

What would you do if someone next to you or behind you, God forbid, has a hacking cough?

I'd find another seat. If I couldn't find another seat, I'd speak (politely) to the flight attendant: "The passenger behind me is coughing so much I'm wondering if he has TB, and concerned that he's probably contagious. Any chance you could help me to change seats, or may I stand up by the door for awhile, please?"

By the way, I've been contacted by several international flight attendants who have TB. They obviously didn't have it when they were hired, or they would not have been hired by the airlines.

FLY DEFENSIVELY

• While on board, cover your nose and mouth with a water-saturated cotton handkerchief. This will help block the spread of germs, while also providing humidity for your lungs.

• Carry a disposable, surgical mask in your bag in case someone on board is coughing a lot. Present this individual with the mask, perhaps saying something like you understand they would probably want to wear one of these in order to help cut down on the transmission of their disease.

Even using all the fresh air available on board isn't going to eliminate the TB or SARS threat on commercial jets — but it will help to cut down on the transmission of contagious diseases in airplanes.

Meanwhile, the airlines are now penalizing passengers who don't want to fly when they have a contagious diseases by cancelling their tickets only with a penalty surcharge.

Stay tuned.

FROM READERS

"I flew roundtrip from Minneapolis to Nairobi via London. The flights on the way over were relatively miserable but the return flights were almost unbearable. At one point, I felt so ill from the cabin air that I thought I might lose consciousness. I was even too ill to summon an attendant. Of all the miseries involved in long distance air travel, cabin air quality, or the lack thereof, is by far the worst problem. If you are doing anything of an organizational nature to work for clean air in airplane cabins, I would be interested in getting involved." -Evelyn Staus

"I, like two million other Americans, suffer from lung disease. I was stunned by your information. I just completed a trip on AA. I paid their ridiculous price for oxygen and jumped through all of their hoops to do it. Many sufferers either could not or would not do this. Therefore, they would be traveling without the benefit of additional oxygen and would be depending upon what they believe to be good air in the plane. This is really criminal. However, they wouldn't be doing it if our government didn't allow it." -John Strong 

"I LOVE your site, and will definitely be asking for 'more fresh air.' One thing I've noticed is that in coach, I tend to feel hotter. I have to have the air blowing on me full blast the whole flight, and even then I perspire sometimes. But this never happens in first class. It doesn't seem that the cabin temperature is different, but *I* seem to heat up for some reason. This may be due to light hypoxia, as it is a symptom in some people."--Tony [DF: Yes. I believe Tony is right. I also experience this symptom of hypoxia]

"I read with interest, your information that if you didn't feel well to ask the attendant to bring you a portable oxygen bottle. On a recent Southwest flight from Las Vegas to Fort Myers, Fl with a stop in Nashville, I was having trouble breathing and asked the flight attendant if oxygen was available. She said yes, but if I took the oxygen they would have to call 911, and upon landing at Nashville the paramedics would meet me and I could not reboard the plane. My wife and I did not want to spend the night in Nashville so I forgot the Oxygen since we were only twenty minutes from Nashville.When we started our decent I began to feel better and felt better as we anded. I asked the Captain what altitude we were flying at and he said 41,000 feet with a cabin pressure of 8500 feet and admitted it was unusually high. The flight from Nashville to Fort Myers was uneventful. So before you ask for oxygen you had better be on a non-stop flight to your destination or plan to spend some time at an intermediate stop." -Don Drumm