Some insight about air-fitness
At any given time, about 5 lacs people are airborne at a cruising speed of 900km/h. It is almost like a magic chair in the air only on average 35,000 feet off the ground! An estimated 6 million people travel by plane every single day around the globe. According to a common consensus flights can be classified based on its duration like below:
- Short-haul (<3 hours)
- Medium-haul (3-6)
- Long-haul (6-12)
- Ultra-long-haul (12+)
Have you ever wondered what effect these various flight schedules may have on your health or any pre-existing disease ? The commercial airline fitness may differ among agencies but I shall try to give you a standard overall idea how it works.
National health service, UK advice against flying in commercial airline if anyone has following health issues:
- After 36 weeks of pregnancy if its your first baby and 32 weeks if its not
- Any contagious infections that can be spread from person to person like COVID-19, Chicken pox etc.
- Recent stroke or heart attack or surgery
- Breathlessness or chest pain at rest
- Some less common problems like sickle cell anaemia ( can cause blood to clog in flight), recent pneumothorax (Air in lung covering), sinus or ear infection etc.
The passenger flights usually travel at an altitude of 22000 to 44000 feet ( Just for perspective, the highest peak of mount everest is 22900 feet!) but inside the cabin pressure is maintained equivalent to a maximum of 8000 feet. The air that we breathe on ground level has 21% oxygen in air which drops to 15% in such a pressurized aircraft cabin. If we measure the blood oxygen using a pulse oximeter it should be around 95-99% under normal circumstances. How does this normalcy change during a flight? Study conducted on airplane pilots shows, blood oxygen dropped down below 90% among 53% participants. What about the passengers? Levels of oxygen in blood among healthy people (mean age 43 years) were 96% at ‘sea level’ and 93% in pressurised airplane cabins. But all these changes usually do not have any consequence in healthy traveler but if someone has any heart-lung or blood issue s/he should consult with a doctor before booking a flight. Remember, every flight has some oxygen supply to be offered to anyone in need but that is usually enough to buy some time before emergency landing or to descend to a level that does not produce breathlessness. If you ever need oxygen while traveling or any other medication support you must inform the airline authority beforehand.
Traveling a long haul flight puts you at risk of developing a blood clot in your vein (Deep vein thrombosis: DVT) as immobilisation causes the blood to flow slow and thus more prone to clot. So, stay hydrated and move around in the aisle whenever you get a chance to avoid your blood becoming lazy.
If all this information seems scary to you, let’s end with some comforting facts. Air travel is actually the safest route to travel ! McGill university data reveals in the US your chance of dying in a car crash is 1 in 114 whereas in a plane crash the chance is 1 in 9821 !
Happy flying.