British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association

Here's a short update on recent air travel experiences in the US.

I've just returned from a 3 weeks in the US, involving two (long) international flights and a bunch of domestic US flights.

In the US, xPAP machines now need to be removed from travel bags and put through the scanner in one of the trays provided at the check point (similar to laptop computers etc).

On all the checks I just pulled out the flow generator and put it in the tray, leaving the humidifier, cables, tubing, card reader, mask etc in my xPAP carry bag. Only at San Francisco did TSA take any interest in what I had left in the xPAP carry bag.

My xPAP machine was "swabbed" after scanning by TSA staff on 5 occasions, including when departing the US on the return international flight from San Francisco. This adds what can often be an already lengthy time taken to go through the normal security checks, but otherwise caused no problems in itself.

Finding space in the overhead lockers on US domestic flights continues to be an issue, so I advise being on the more pushy side in terms of boarding as early as you can and getting your CPAP carry-on into an overhead locker. I was mostly travelling on American Airlines before the recent $15 additional checked baggage charge came into effect, so I can see this getting even worse in future, as more US airlines introduce checked baggage charges and US travellers tray to avoid checking baggage.

I didn't make on flights on Virgin America on this trip (as their route network is still quite limited), but my daughter who works in Los Angeles for the Australian Government does when she can in the course of her business travel in the US.... and she tells me that there are 120V mains power outlets at all seats on Virgin America aircraft.

Lastly, I used my S8 running from my previously described battery packs on both ~14 hour international QANTAS flights without any issues.

Cheers,

Bill

From my experience in August 2006, and Bill's latest post, perhaps SFO is rather oversensitive to CPAPS .........

I think things have relaxed a bit in UK off to Italy on Sunday will feed back

Easyjet to Nice, no problems. Didn't even search my bag.

Recently travelled to Egypt on holiday properly equiped with machine, mask and letter from the hospital.

Birmingham: told security it was medical equipment, they didn't check anything.

Sharm el shiek: wasn't mentioned at all

I was pleased by the lack of hassle, however a bit disturbed that the bag wasn't opened and checked it could have contained anything.

Paul

Did your bag go through the xray machine?

Incidentally Easyjet charge for checked baggage but there was lots of room in the overhead lockers despite a full flight.

I had my machine in my regular bag along with a computer and a satellite tv digi box, a blood pressure monitor along with assorted power supplies.

Yes the bag went through xray along with a laptop computer. They wanted to check out the computer but not the CPAP machine?

I have just returned from the USA and want to relate the problems I encountered with my c-pap.

Going out was a doddle. No problems going through security, nor on the flight since it was during the day.

Coming back, I travelled from Chicago - Newark (all OK) and then Newark to Heathrow. At Newark my boarding card was marked as 'high security' for some unfathomable reason. Maybe a pensioner lady in a wheelchair raised suspicion! Anyway, my c-pap received lots of attention. The machine and all peripherals were removed from the ResMed travel bag and given a good going over.

I had booked business class with BA on a Boeing 777 as it was a night return . I adjusted my S8's altitude setting to prepare for the flight. When the time came to settling down to sleep, I sought the help of the Cabin staff manager who was unable to secure a constant flow of air...the S8 menu would not come up, nor would the machine stay on constantly, thus giving no flow of air.

The co-pilot came to my aid and found a seat in First Class that did manage to provide constant and sufficient power from the empower source. I had to move to First Class for the night....a big hardship, not!

Anyway, the airline staff were sufficiently concerned and perplexed as to why the power was not forthcoming in one cabin class whilst it was in another as they said that both classes had equivalent power sources. They advised me to tell my hospital's sleep lab technician and also to raise the matter with this forum as someone here might be able to give an explanation.

Now back home, my c-pap is working fine again.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might have gone wrong?

Hi! Sorry to hear about the initial problems with your return flight! Perhaps the US are jittery because Barack Obama is in the Middle East!

I don't have a ResMed but I wonder if your problem might have been linked to trying to change the machine to accept the cabin pressure. I never change my settings when I'm flying and my Goodknight 420G seems quite happy.

I flew WTP+ with BA for the empower socket and had no problem. Could it have been a problem at your particular seat? BA do warn on their website that power is NOT guaranteed ...........

Glad you made it home safe and sound and as for being upgraded to FIRST WOW WOW WOW!! Bet the breakfast was good!

Unfortuneatley aircraft maintenance is expensive and time consuming, the result is they only fix what they legally have to i.e. the flight systems.

This means that no seat is guaranteed to have working, power sockets, headphone sockets, tray, seat back TV's etc.. Even when working the power sockets do not provide a steady voltage or current, this is whats likely to have caused the problem. It's unlikely that there is anything wrong with your CPAP machine. It's working normally now and did in first class. Mention it at your next CPAP check up but I don't expect they'll find anything.

Of course the above does not apply to 1st class as the customers there have paid extortionate prices and will complain loud and long if anything is not right.

Only when an aircraft is due for overhaul are all the gadgets checked and fixed but that only happens after many hundreds of hours of flying.

It's pleasing to see that despite being treated badly by their employer BA staff are still able to deliver good service.

Paul

I travelled recently from Inverness to Gatwick with my CPAP, it was no problem. They didnt ask me at any time to unzip the case, they scanned it like they do your handbag and that was all. The girl at the check in desk did ask "have you got any liquids such as lipstick or perfume in there" and I smiled and said no. I am certain she just thought it was a vanity case. I had a giggle to myself about that as there is not enough make up in my house to fill a soap bag let alone a CPAP machine carry case. Or maybe she thought I needed a whole shedload of make-up which is worrying cos that would mean I must have been looking pretty rough that day.

I've just returned from Mauritius, flew with Air Mauritius. My CPAP bag just went through xray machine at Heathrow and Mauritius, nobody asked what it was or looked inside which I was amazed at, I was expecting some questions about the machine, does this mean that the people operating the xray machine has seen lots of them and has no need to ask about them?

I wonder how many people in the UK suffer with sleep apnea, does anyone know if there are any stats on this?

The answer is lots diagnosed and probably even more undiagnosed.

The airports see millions of people each year so the security guy's will more than likely seen quite a number of CPAP machines.

The actual numbers are probably out on the web but can only really be an estimate. NHS direct estimate 1 in every 100 people, roughly 60million people so that would be (if my maths is right) 600,000.

Paul

Congratulations Paul, your maths was right, according to the Dr Alice Programme there are some 600,000 in the U.K. with sleep apnoea!
Cheers Ken

Just to add my 2p worth. My job involves a lot of air travel and I've had no significant trouble at any time over the past 2 years. I pack the CPAP machine in a bag together with my laptop. I use a mains lead with a continental plug on it for travel and I carry a universal mains adapter along with the CPAP machine. If there isn't a socket by the bed in the hotel then I go downstairs to reception and ask for the loan of an extension lead. On the plane, if I'm in business class and there is a mains power socket, I plug the machine in and use it. If there isn't, I snore. It's only one night after all, and I had undiagnosed OSA for at least 5 years before getting my machine. Security varies between the extremes of not being even slightly interested all the way through to taking the machine out for an explosives test (in one case, testing positive). If anyone asks what it is I tell them it's medical equipment, but there are enough machines around for security staff to encounter them on a regular basis. The important thing to remember when travelling is that you are the customer, you are not a criminal, you are not a terrorist, you have a right to be on the plane, and as long as you don't act unreasonably the security staff generally respect this.

Sorry about the long post, but I thought people might be reassured by how easy it is in practice to travel with a CPAP machine.