|
|
|
|
| WHEN "NO-SMOKING" DOESN'T MEAN NO SMOKE |
 RELATED PAGES Asthmatic man dies
|
DEAR DIANA "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?" -Josie Dear Josie, Yes, it's true. Some airlines still allow their pilots to smoke. Since air from the cockpit is recirculated into passenger cabins (never vice versa), flights where pilots smoke are never smoke free. And smoking pilots often fly together as "smoker-friendly" crews, increasing the impact on passengers. But today most pilots are on the no-smoking bandwagon. A curious incident involved a British Airways captain in Milan, Italy, who was so outraged to hear that a passenger had smoked in a lavatory on his no-smoking flight that he kept all 148 passengers onboard after landing waiting for the smoker to confess. There was no confession, but after forty minutes the airport police put a stop to the so-called "jet detention." Smoking in lavatories is more common than you would imagine; smokers simply deactivate the smoke detectors (with condoms!). If caught, fines are $1,000 for smoking plus $2,000 for tampering with the smoke detector. For the addicted, no-smoking flights can create withdrawal problems. So in 1990, the FAA initially exempted nicotine-addicted pilots on U.S. no-smoking flights, saying, "withdrawal symptoms might pose a risk to the pilots' performance." This 1990 FAA report also said, "The flight deck of an aircraft is better ventilated than the passenger cabin and has a separate air circulation system that does not mix with that of the cabin," which settled once and for all the controversy about pilots breathing better air. SMOKING ON INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS Passengers beware. Smoking flights may turn up anywhere around the world (not U.S. domestic, though) due to an airline practice called "code-sharing," an arrangement where one airline flies part of a route for another. From a reader: "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." In addition, on many international flights today, passengers are permitted to smoke. On a smoking flight between Athens and New York, an asthmatic passenger actually died. Seated three rows in front of the smoking section, the flight attendants had repeatedly ignored his pleas for a seat further away from the smokers. I testified as an expert witness in this landmark case, decided in the plaintiff's favor by the U.S. Supreme Court (02-1348) in 2004. WHAT SMART PASSENGERS DO * On board, no one may smoke within three rows of medical oxygen. So if someone is smoking near you and you can't change seats, tell an attendant you're having trouble breathing and ask for an oxygen bottle. * Adjust your air blower so the smoke-filled air is pushed back towards passengers who smoke. * For reservations on smoking flights, say: I am asthmatic (or allergic to smoke) and must sit as far away from smoke as possible. Get names of all airline employees you speak with. * Code-share agreements are common in the industry and, though they may not always lead to smoking flights, you may fly on an airline you have not chosen. For example, in December 2004 Southwest signed a code share that sends some passengers to ATA. No two airlines have identical amenities and safety records. NO SMOKING ON PLANES HAS TAKEN MORE THAN 30 YEARS AND THE WORK OF MANY VOLUNTEERS 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 class action suit settles: lawyers for attendants get $49 million; tobacco companies get a shelter from future class actions by attendants; nonsmoking flight attendants with lung diseases get nothing. 1998: No-smoking on all U.S. domestic flights; some airlines voluntarily ban smoking on selected international routes. 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." HEALTH-CONSCIOUS AIR TRAVEL The 30-year struggle to ban smoking on planes is an excellent example of a successful consumer activist movement and a great model for changing other egregious airline policies. Today I am still fighting to ban recirculated air (which pollutes the cabin with germs, viruses, and toxins) and pesticides (which damage the immune system in passengers and in their offspring). The Nicotine Dark Ages had only one advantage in aviation. Fuselage cracks and leaking door seals were easy to spot after landing thanks to the brown streak of nicotine residue trailing along the fuselage. (The dangers of aging aircraft are still another opportunity for the public to get involved and make a difference.)
FROM READERS "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!" -Bob Starkey |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| FLYANA.COM |
|
|
