Lucie, Passenger
"On a no-smoking flight from Shanghai, I sat in business class and smelled cigarette smoke. I informed the attendant, and guess what? The pilots were smoking! What's a nonsmoker to do?" [Mar'06]

Veja Brazil,
Sergio Teixeira
"Diana Fairechild's workplace (jets) was replete with toxic chemicals including pesticide, tobacco smoke and jet fuel." [Sep'03]

Bob Starkey, Airline Passenger
"I have devoted my life to fighting for the right to breathe. Please let your readers know: on an Olympic flight I took from Sydney to Bangkok, the flight attendants smoked in the sleeping area below, contaminating the air system. Also on a no-smoking Olympic flight from London to Athens, the flight attendants smoked behind a cloth curtain!" [Jan'05]

Joe, Passenger
"I suffer quite badly from smoke and work for a multinational corporation in Angola. We fly Angola Airlines (TAAG), a code-share with Air France. Though Air France is no smoking, TAAG is not, so there is smoking on these flights even though the ticket shows Air France." [Sep'06]

Smoking by Diana Fairechild
SMOKING FLIGHTS TODAY

Today, even on some no-smoking airlines, you may encounter a flight where an airline permits its pilots to smoke. Since air from the cockpit is recirculated into passenger cabins (never vice versa), flights where pilots smoke are never smoke-free. In 1990, the FAA exempted nicotine-addicted pilots on no-smoking flights because "withdrawal symptoms might pose a risk to the pilots' performance." It said: "The flight deck of an aircraft is better ventilated than the passenger cabin and has a separate air circulation system."

Also, passengers may unexpectedly encounter smoking flights on a non-smoking airline, when that airline has made an agreement to allow another airline to fly a route for them. This airline practice is called "code-sharing."

Finally, there are still some airlines today which allow smoking. In 2002, a Greek airline permitted smoking between Athens and New York. On one of these flights an asthmatic passenger, who didn't expect to be on a smoking flight, had an asthmatic attack and died. His widow sued. I testified in this precedent-setting lawsuit that was decided for the deceased's widow by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004 (02-1348).

OVER 30 YEARS TO GET NO SMOKING ON PLANES

1973: No-smoking sections introduced.

1979: Cigars and pipes banned on planes.

1987: Air Canada offers no-smoking flights between New York and Montreal, and reports a reduction in aircraft cleaning costs.

1988: No-smoking on all U.S. domestic flights under 2 hours.

1990: No-smoking on all U.S. domestic flights under 6 hours.

1994: Nonsmoking flight attendants with lung diseases sue seven tobacco companies.

1997: Flight attendant suit settles: lawyers for attendants get $49 million; tobacco companies get a shelter from future class-actions by attendants; flight attendants with lung diseases get nothing.

1998: No-smoking on all U.S. domestic flights.

1999: Japan Airlines bans smoking and offers passengers little plastic tubes to suck on to "help suppress the urge."

2000: U.S. Federal Law 106-181 sec. 252.3, passed on 4/5/00, took effect in June 2000. It simply says, "All carriers shall prohibit smoking on all scheduled passenger flights."

IF YOU ENCOUNTER A SMOKING FLIGHT

TIP 1. Adjust your air blower so the smoke-filled air is pushed back towards passengers who smoke.

TIP 2. Ask your flight attendant for an oxygen bottle. No one may smoke within three rows of oxygen. So if someone is smoking near you and you can't change seats, you might want to tell a flight attendant you're having trouble breathing and ask for an oxygen bottle.

ADDITIONAL PRACTICAL AND INTRIGUING STRATEGIES FOR AIRLINE PASSENGERS ARE OFFERED IN FLYANA WORKSHOPS AND CONSULTATIONS