January 16, 2007

An Open Letter to AirTran

Dear AirTran

You need more air in your airplanes. I don't know why, but every time I fly AirTran, I get a little dizzy and light-headed as if there isn't enough air for me to breathe. It feels the same as if I were at a very high altitude without the benefit of being in an airplane.

I do not have this problem on other airlines, so I know the technology exists for you to do something about this problem.

Thank you

Flibby

Posted by Flibbertigibbet at January 16, 2007 10:06 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Did you pay the extra air fee?

Posted by: sompopo at January 16, 2007 09:49 PM

Maybe its just a coincidence. Believe it or not, the time of day and your destination can actually play a role in how much oxygen is on the plane... do you do a lot of traveling at night?

Posted by: Matt Chancellor at January 19, 2007 12:48 PM

The first flight was at midday (10 - 2) with a stop in Akron. The second flight was in the morning (8 - 10) and both had this problem.

I've never experienced this with other airlines, but the one other time I can remember this happening, it was on an airtran flight. That flight was also during the day.

It's weird and bothersome. And it worried me that apart from all the people sleeping on the flights no one seemed to be attempting to breathe more deeply or anything to ward off the effects.

Posted by: Flibby at January 19, 2007 01:06 PM

Hrm. That shoots both my theories. Most commercial planes pressurize their aircraft to an altitude of about 8,000 FT (this means the air inside the aircraft is as dense as it would be at an altitude of 8,000 FT above sea level). If that was off by 2,000 FT (pressurized to 10,000), I could see you getting light headed and dizzy, but I don't think that's very likely. It's a discount airline though, so maybe they're saving money by running the air pumps less ;)

Posted by: Matt Chancellor at January 19, 2007 01:24 PM
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