Well I must admit I had completely missed the point. But now that the matter is on the table: are hectopascals really identical to millibars? I have a suspicion there is some subtle difference, with no practical effect whatever, just like UTC vs. GMT.
@rusty_b: it is quite disappointing to me that the Russians should be giving up on the much more logical metrical units. Do you have any sources? Perhaps they realise metrics were always favoured by bad regimes like Hitler's and Stalin's?
@RTN11: yes I do often fly with high pressure, especially between the upper upper thighs...