Cabin temperature

[Medical Patient]

First, I must sincerely apologise for invading this professional forum. I am not a pilot.
I am a medical patient and need to fly from Brisbane to Sydney to consult a specialist, tomorrow.
One of my problems is heat intolerance. It is a serious problem and I can't tolerate temperature above 21 C. to 22 C. I suffer from immune dysfunction and abnormal vasodilation, resulting in severe flushing, swelling, burst blood vessels, nose bleeds, etc. The vascular damage can be permanent.
My GP requested that the pilot be aware of this and keep the cabin cool.

I am booked to fly with Virgin tomorrow and they just called me to say it is not possible to control the cabin temp and it could rise to 25 C, where is normally sits!!
I never had a problem with Air NZ and other airlines. Everything was organised without a problem. The pilots had me sit near the front so they could control the environment more easily.

I have SERIOUS health issues and my appointment with the specialist is urgent.
Could someone here please advise how I can resolve my plane cabin temperature problem before my flight tomorrow lunchtime?
I know it is short notice, but I never expected this.

Again I apologise sincerely for invading this forum, but having gone the orthodox route of speaking with administrative staff, and failed in my quest, here I am.
I want to hear from a pilot, whether it really is possible to cool the cabin on Virgin planes or not.

Thank you!

[dhardesthard]

Sorry to hear of your condition. The cabin can be carried at any temperature, however the problem is that it will be inconvenient to the other passengers. Apart from asking all the other passengers to wear warm clothing for the 21 to 22 degrees that you require I cannot think of how to solve your problem besides if you charter the plane for you alone. If it is a short flight you may get the passengers agree to 22 degrees for the duration of the flight.

[FCS Explorer]

the a/c in a car is made for comfort.
the a/c in a plane is made for survival, to keep air pressure for breathing and temp *near* normal. precise temp control is rarely achived. e.g. in the bestseller 737 the buttons are "warmer" & "colder".

[Dani]

Altough temperature selection in any passenger transport aircraft is set to 24-26 degrees, it does not mean that you feel that it is or that your body is exposed as if you would sit in a room with 25 degrees C air temperature.

The problem in aircraft is that they fly on altitudes where outside temperature is below 50 degrees, so the fuselage temperature is transmitting this temperature into the cabin. In physical terms we talk about heat radiation. That's why you feel colder on a window seat than in an aisle seat.

I'm also sure that in a lot of other places between your home and the aircraft temperatures will be higher than 20 degrees.

I would succest that you take a window seat and ask the cabin crew if they would be so kind to reduce the temperature as much as possible. Good luck

Dani

[grounded27]

Don't apologise. I wish I could work out a scenario that would help. It looks like the temp in brisbane is quite warm right now, how long can you tolerate higher temps? Another problem is that on the ground the aircraft is going to be working harder to cool down, once in the air lower temps are easy to achieve even if you have to charter. Best wishes.

[Piltdown Man]

I'm very sorry, but even if you were sat next to me, I couldn't guarantee what the temperature would be. It doesn't really matter which aircraft you are in although bigger is better as they have a greater thermal inertia. In reality, there are too many variables which may result in you experiencing a temperature which could cause you irreversible injury. The ideal temperature would be 22˚C for everybody but regularly I find that I'm unable to control the temperature to my satisfaction, let alone the passengers. Therefore, if I was asked by my company if we could absolutely guarantee a temperature I'd say I couldn't and also if asked whether we should accept a booking, I'd suggest that we decline to offer you a seat unless you indemnify us.

PM