Flight attendants to measure airliner cabin temperatures

In June 2017, a 4-month-old baby was rushed to the hospital suffering from heat-related symptoms following more than two hours aboard an increasingly hot United Airlines plane on the tarmac at Denver International Airport.

The child recovered, but the incident represents a worst-case scenario of the sometimes extreme temperatures that can overtake an aircraft on a hot summer's day, creating a cabin environment that can run from uncomfortable to potentially unsafe.

“Today there are no temperature standards that exist,” said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, speaking of federal. “Oftentimes, in a list of safety requirements, this becomes the last priority,” “Even when airlines have their own internal policies about heating and cooling aircraft. there's not going to be a full solution here until there's a standard that everyone will have to meet.”

Starting this month, thousands of flight attendants at airlines around the country will be carrying thermometers to document instances of extreme temperatures, whether hot or cold, encountered during their shifts.

The data collected will be used to further bolster the push by two of the industry's largest flight attendant unions to get the federal government to put standards in place for cabin temperatures, with a recommended range of 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.