Flying with CPAP

matthew999 wrote:Your kind of a negative nancy.

No, just someone who travels across the world by air a very great deal and observes what really happens. What people say should happen all the time or think should happens all the time has very little connection to the reality of what can and does happen in day to day air-travel if anything gets even a little out of kilter.

If you travel enough you hit many of the "only few percent of the time" conditions and get to see exactly how both ground-side and air-side crew react to them.

Smart travellers think defensively about what has a possibility of happening and then plan to get the outcomes they desire despite unusual circumstances. By doing that I have never been caught out in terms of being able to take at least my CPAP machine on board with me... a lot of it is achieved by understanding what the airline staff have to deal with and precisely not by standing on any preception of a right.

billbolton wrote:What people say should happen all the time or think should happens all the time has very little connection to the reality of what can and does happen in day to day air-travel if anything gets even a little out of kilter.

Bloody oath. It's kinda like crossing a road in a crosswalk without looking to see if the cars stop. Sure, they should. It's the law. You're right, you have the right of way. But that doesn't help when you get hit by the car that doesn't stop. There's a lot of things I'd rather be than right.

blarg wrote:

billbolton wrote:What people say should happen all the time or think should happens all the time has very little connection to the reality of what can and does happen in day to day air-travel if anything gets even a little out of kilter.

Bloody oath. It's kinda like crossing a road in a crosswalk without looking to see if the cars stop. Sure, they should. It's the law. You're right, you have the right of way. But that doesn't help when you get hit by the car that doesn't stop. There's a lot of things I'd rather be than right.

AMEN!

LOVELY and LIVELY THREAD, all, I just cannot thank everyone enough. The truth is, however--at the end of the day--that the Customer Service Manager on duty at any given time is LORD OF THE MANOR and will grant SUMMARY JUDGEMENT based on his/her will at that moment. A supervisor's mindset will, at any given moment, supersede any and all TSA memos, post-911 legislation, what your mama told you, the US Constitution and whatever your cousin says who scrubs wheelchairs for Delta. Is it right? No. But that's still the way it is, just like the sun is hot and water is wet.

Thank God for my CPAP so I have the strength to engage in wonderful discussions such as this!

Sweet dreams,
The Other Bill

Wow, lots going on here.

I fly with Delta between 4 and 6 times a month. I carry on my overhead compliant suitcase, my computer case and my cpap. I have never been asked about it once they knew it was a medical device.

The law is clear that cpap is considered an allowable medical device.

Having said that put yourself in the place of a flight attendant, people aways trying to get something over on them, people shoving, pushing and yelling at them all day. The best thing that you can do is carry the letter from the government that states that this is a medical device in the cpap bag, have a medical device tag on the bag and very nicely explain what it is. Do not get hot , mad or aggressive. The flight attendant will almost always work with you, also volunteer to put your hand bag or computer under the seat in front of you, most of the time the overheads get full very fast and that is one of the things that the flight attendant needs to worry about.

Happy flying