[Oxygen therapy during Argentine-based national and international flights]

There are no data about supplemental oxygen in flight in our country. The objective of our study was to evaluate arranging in-flight-oxygen required by a simulated traveler, system of administration and costs, and to compare the results between Argentine-based (A) and international (I) airlines. The questionnaire used was similar to that of Stoller et al12. Data collection consisted of telephone calls placed by one of the authors to all commercial air carriers listed in our two Buenos Aires City airports during July 2007. A structured interview with questions was addressed on issues that an oxygen-using air traveler would need to arrange in-flight oxygen. Of the 25 airlines, 6 were discarded because of lack of information (24%, three A -60%- and one I -16%-). All A allowed in-flight-oxygen vs. 80% of I (p<0.05), 100% of A and 94% of I required a medical certificate (p=NS); 71% of A and 100% of I required previous notification (p<0.05); 50% of A and 87% of I provided patient interphases of oxygen administration (p=NS). Free of charge oxygen could be provided by 100% of A and 50% of I, with airline charge between 70 to 300 dollars. In conclusion, we observed different policies, rules, availability, and a pronounced lack of standardization of airline information. The cost of oxygen was very different between airlines and it was superior on I. It will be necessary to carry out actions to facilitate patient access to oxygentherapy and to standardize medical information among airlines in our country.