The aircraft cabin environment exposes passengers and flight attendants to multiple environmental stressors that may lead to health and safety risks, including on occasion excessively hot or cold temperatures. As passengers and flight attendants have limited ability to change the cabin environment, understanding and managing temperature-related risks is essential for safe air travel.

A new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine assesses the health and safety impacts of cabin temperatures in commercial aircraft and makes recommendations for improving understanding and strengthening risk management practices — actions that can support safer cabin environments for passengers and flight attendants.

Recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration include establishing a program to better monitor, record, and assess cabin temperature and humidity. Airlines are encouraged to integrate cabin temperature and humidity hazards into their safety management systems and improve the use of health and safety data to identify potential thermal hazards. Airlines should also ensure that flight attendant input is included in real-time operational decisions related to unsafe cabin temperatures and, where feasible, allow flight attendants more flexibility in uniform options and outfit selection.

These actions could enhance the ability of operators and regulators to identify and mitigate risks and reduce the likelihood and severity of health and safety events. Implementation could also build a stronger empirical foundation for future decision-making, enabling regulators and operators to better assess risks, evaluate mitigation strategies, and adapt to evolving conditions in air travel.

The study — undertaken by the Committee on Health and Safety Impacts of Aircraft Cabin Temperatures — was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, engineering, and medicine. They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.

Contact:
Solomon Self, Media Relations Officer
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; email news@nas.edu