Do you get "better" air in business class?

November 21, 2007 11:08 AM

The one time I flew long haul in business class, I noticed that afterward I didn't feel like I'd been run over by a bus as I usually do after 11hrs in coach. Yes, I had a bigger seat, more room etc, but some people told me that you fell less worse because you get better/ cleaner/ fresher air in business and first class than in coach. Fact or fiction?
posted by The_Partridge_Family to travel & transportation (18 comments total)

Doubtful that is true since the different compartments of the aircraft aren't really separated and air circulation thru the whole cabin happens.
posted by mmascolino at 11:11 AM on November 21, 2007

Total fiction. How would this even be achieved?
posted by proj at 11:12 AM on November 21, 2007

Fiction. Air is recirculated on an airplane. It's just that when you want to sleep in business class you can do so rather soundly because you have enough room, are comfortable enough, and a lot less likely be be disturbed by someone trying to get by.

I got to go first class once; the seat folded out to essentially a full bed. I had zero jet lag; it was awesome.
posted by Doohickie at 11:14 AM on November 21, 2007

The air in business and first is probably worse, as the seats in coach are so designed that the cheap-seat passengers' farts are directed to the front of the plane. And the food in coach is designed specifically to generate flatulence.

Seriously, though - no. The compartments are divided by a curtain so there's no way the air could be separated.
posted by essexjan at 11:20 AM on November 21, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Fiction.
posted by autojack at 11:38 AM on November 21, 2007

Airplane cabin air is universally bad.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 12:03 PM on November 21, 2007

I'd just like to add for the posters noting that the compartments aren't separated: this was a 747, with business class in the nose of the plane and first class upstairs, so they are separated to a degree (as opposed to domestic flights where business class is just larger seats in the same section of the plane)
posted by The_Partridge_Family at 12:23 PM on November 21, 2007

Terminal Verbosity: That article is about a study that is going to be conducted this year. All it says is that they're going to study airplane cabin air.
posted by autojack at 12:28 PM on November 21, 2007

Hmm - I wonder if you're in coach with say 300 other people, then aren't you kinda breathing their air? As opposed to breathing 20 others in business/ first class?
posted by The_Partridge_Family at 12:39 PM on November 21, 2007

Business class and First class are quieter because they're further towards the front of the jet. I suspect that, plus the larger seat, are why your subjective experience was different.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 12:40 PM on November 21, 2007

autojack: you're right. I was googling for this study and posted the wrong url.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 12:47 PM on November 21, 2007

Seriously, though - no. The compartments are divided by a curtain so there's no way the air could be separated.

All it would take to make better air in first class a reality would be an extra blower motor in front of an activated carbon filter in the fresh air outlet in first class.

The blower could make the pressure in first class enough greater that very little air from other sections would enter there, and the carbon would significantly improve the typically dreadful air quality on a plane.

It's the sort of thing an airline could never advertise without getting enough unfavorable press to risk bankruptcy, but they wouldn't have to in order to get some benefit from it-- the unconscious conditioning effect might well be enough to drive those who could afford it toward first class (and profits up).

And it would go a long way toward explaining to me why airlines have been so paradoxically resistant to dealing with complaints from their own employees about airplane air quality when it is so simple to improve that air quality.
posted by jamjam at 1:20 PM on November 21, 2007

You feel "less worse?"

I don't see how this would be possible given the parameters.
posted by agregoli at 1:38 PM on November 21, 2007

Was the more pleasant flight less crowded? Much of the reason air gets bad on flights is due to ozone reacting with people's breath and skin.

Less people on a flight makes for better air. I just had a nearly empty flight and it definitely was a lot more pleasant in many other ways too, but the air certainly wasn't as close as I'm used to encountering.
posted by ursus_comiter at 1:43 PM on November 21, 2007

fiction, except to the extent that you share the air with less other people. 11 hours in coach is kind of like a couple of minutes of waterboarding, maybe not the full on, but I would confess to minor crimes for an upgrade to business class.
posted by caddis at 2:07 PM on November 21, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I dunno which is worse... "less worse" or "less people."

Anyway, it's clearly fiction, as all others have said, if only for reasons of fluid dynamics.

You might be underestimating the value of the "bigger" seat. Being more folded for 11hrs is not a nice thing to do to the body.

Or maybe you just drank more water.

The biggest difference I notice on how awful I feel post-ocean is whether or not I fall asleep with my neck all twisted up in some godawful position.

Also, attractive or amusing seatmates help.
posted by rokusan at 3:14 PM on November 21, 2007

The only way you would get "fresher" air is because there are less people around. So really yes, you will be a bit better rested in business or first class but its just because you are physically around less people (and the air they breath out).
posted by Black_Umbrella at 6:16 PM on November 21, 2007

I flew economy plus once, and felt, as you say, fresher.

I think it's to do with not having x amount of people crowded around you - feeling in control of one's personal space, and able to properly relax.

Anecdotally, one might relate the sleep capsules I saw on TV, where it was mentioned that humans sleep better when their back is protected, thus the shape of the capsules - i.e., when one feels more secure (larger seat, less people etc.), one is better able to sleep/relax.

I think it would be more this than the air.
posted by djgh at 6:36 PM on November 21, 2007