As a video that went viral this week over an argument over an airline blanket proved, tempers can get heated over the temperature in airplane cabins which why some people are renewing calls for formalizing rules about comfort standards aboard commercial aircraft.
The incident that caught the travel world’s attention happened when an Air Canada flight from Casablanca to Montreal was cancelled on July 26, 2024 due to the behavior of a flight attendant who became exasperated when passengers asked her for more blankets because the cabin was too cold. Here is the video:
Stress levels are quite high in the sky these days : An Air Canada flight from Casablanca (CMN) to Montreal (YUL) was canceled due to the inappropriate behavior of a flight attendant on July 26, 2024.
The Airbus A330-343 aircraft (C-GHLM) did the taxi aiming a departure while… pic.twitter.com/h3s4fbGF5A— FL360aero (@fl360aero) July 27, 2024
It’s bad enough when the flight is at 35,000 feet and everyone is freezing, but cabins can become overheated saunas when planes are sitting for extended periods on the ground on hot tarmacs.
According to a Global News report, as far back as 2018, the Association of Flight Attendants petitioned the U.S. Department of Transportation to set a minimum federal standard of 80 F or 26.7 C during boarding, with a higher limit of 85 F if in-flight entertainment screens are on. The petition is currently being studied by the Department of Transportation.
Current U.S. regulations do not specify an acceptable range in temperatures, although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) currently requires there be no more than a 5 F difference in temperature between the cockpit and cabin. In other words, if you’re hot (or cold), chances are so are the pilots.
In Canada, the situation is a little different. The Aviation Occupational Health and Safety Regulations state that “if feasible,” the temperature on board aircraft should be no lower than 18 C — or 64 F — and no more than 29 C or 84 F.
In the same Global News report mentioned above, aviation management professor John Gradek said that standard temperatures are difficult to maintain because conditions can differ widely between where a plane takes off from and where it lands.
“You deal with the flight crew, you deal with the cabin crew, and you make your point known, and they will adjust the temperature based on what they can or can’t do,” he said. “Putting regulatory approvals and parameters around it is an additional boondoggle that may not be appropriate.”
Personally, I always dress in layers when I fly so that I can add clothing when I get too cold and take things off when it heats up. I’m always amazed when I see people boarding an aircraft in tank tops and shorts on their way to their tropical vacations then see them shivering for hours in the sub-arctic temperatures of the airplane cabin.
