Back in the 1960s and 1970s, being airsick was a common reference in television, movies, and other media (“On the way the paper bag was on my knee/Man, I had a dreadful flight”
By the 1990s, when began I was flying regularly, I never saw anyone airsick (a few people nervous about flying, though even that was pretty rare), but not the classic image of someone desperately clutching a paper bag. And references in popular culture to airsickness seemed to have disappeared too.
Did something change in airplanes (steadier flight, no smoking)? Did something change in the culture (people just changed their expectations about what was normal on a flight, increased commonness of flying in general)? Or was the incidence of airsickness a culturing running gag that ran its course?
OP, you didn’t see me or my kids in the mid-late 90s or 2000s, then. All 3 of us were airsick at least twice in that time span.
I used to get airsick more frequently before my kids came along in 1997 and 2000. Maybe having to take care of them helped me get over it? The problem wasn’t usually turbulence, more like being overtired or having a bad cold during a trip. I haven’t been airsick in at least 15 years but I still check whether the bag is there, just in case.
Another reason may be that Dramamine, Bonine and remedies like relief bands and patches are more effective and more common too. And, as you say, it could be a cultural change; many people now have grown up flying as opposed to the 60s-80s when flying was expensive.
As you noted (“early warning”), and in weather prediction. We’ve seen this in daily life, too. Remember before the 1990s, how iffy forecasts were even just two of three days out — but now, you almost always know the temp, chance of rain, and wind speed and direction, a week or more away?
I’ve heard a lot of the improved computer modeling for this got started in the Walker Building at Penn State, the Atmospheric Science Department, upstairs from where I did a semester “abroad” in their Geography Department around the same time (I think it was a couple of grad students who then founded AccuWeather).
Gallon ziploks are great barf bags , you can yak and seal them.
[chemo made me do a lot of vomiting over the past 6 years. I even packed my own box of zippy bags last time I was in hospital, saved me time and effort. I can also do a 7 minute ostomy bag change into a ziplok, I carry a full setup, a 4 oz potable water, pair of gloves, pair of adhesive remover wipes, a few alcohol swabs and a couple sheets of paper toweling.]
I’m prone to motion sickness, and I still get queasy if I’m on a plane that’s experiencing significant turbulence.
I haven’t actually thrown up while on a plane since I was 7 or 8, but experiencing bad turbulence on a flight is still a thing, even if, thanks to better weather forecasts and better radar, it might be less common than it used to be.
You probably would not want to sit next to me if it is a rough flight. I almost flashed on three flights. After my 1st flight when I was about 45, I have learned to wear an air sickness patch. They help a lot. My biggest problem is landing. It is the dropping that causes the problem for me. If the airplane is going through a lot of thermals I start praying that they will get the plane down on the graound before I flash. Now the funny part when I was in 6th grade I picked going to one of the Maritime Academies as my college choice. My division mates liked getting my name in the Barf Pool.
I also now wear a motion sickness patch when I go to Disneyland.
I was on a flight years ago that was a little bumpy, no big deal. A woman was demonstrably airsick, vomiting into a bag, but also moaning loudly in between retching. The moaning got worse and worse, progressing into what I assume was some sort of panic attack. Flight attendants were holding her down and her neighbors had all switched seats (flight wasn’t full).
It was pre-kindle times, so I kept my nose in a book.
I was on a flight from London Heathrow to Washington Dulles on September 23rd this year when I was very close to throwing up. A picture of the flight path is in the link below. The airplane was probably somewhere over Canada when there began to be a lot of shaking of it. I grabbed the paper bag that was in the hanging compartment behind the seat ahead of me. I held the bag open so if I began throwing up I would throw up in it and not on the floor. I began coughing like I was about to throw up but didn’t quite throw up. Eventually the shaking stopped. A flight attendant sat down next to me (where there was an open seat) and gave me a motion sickness pill which I took:
Ok, guys, I’ve learned my lesson - there are good reasons why airsickness is less common (better weather prediction and better knowledge of where less turbulence is, and more availability of medication that fights airsickness), but I’ve been very lucky in where I’ve been sitting
I have a question. Has anybody ever been on a flight where airsickness is effectively contagious? One person vomits and the environment (mostly smell) sets off a chain reaction? I’ve seen that happen on ferries (and in film i.e. Stand by Me), but never on a plane.
We have barfing passengers regularly. We still equip each seat with a barf bag.
As to turbulence the 737 I drive is no different than the 707 Dad drove. It still gets bounced around when it’s rough. And we still can’t detect turbulence looking out the window or (mostly) looking at the radar. Yes, weather prediction is better, but we don’t go very far out of our way (vertically or laterally) to avoid predicted turbulence, and in fact it’s often simply not that avoidable. I bounced my way through 4 flights across the Midwest late last week and the only smooth alternative was to take the interstate. Or stay home. Welcome to a sneak preview of Winter.
I really think the main difference is that air travel is now commonplace. People have been doing it for years, whereas in e.g.1964, everyone was a first-timer. Unless you have an inner ear problem (like my new wife), you will adapt to turbulence with experience. Back then nobody had it; now most travelers have it.
My guess is that the air quality, due to better air filtration and A/C is a factor in improvement. Turbulence doesn’t bother me, but my sinuses do. I need to have the air blowing directly in my face or I start to feel congested and nauseous, feeling like I need a breath of fresh air if the A/C isn’t blowing on me.
I probably have sleep apnea and have to have a fan blowing directly up my nose or I’ll get up gasping for air and feeling nauseous and dizzy in the morning.
Yeah. I did mention banning smoking in the OP - smoke would probably make me sick (my decline in carsickness may have something to do with my parents quitting)
That’s a surprise, I’ve only seen it once and that was a long time ago.
Oh, and flying from Puerto Rico to Florida (forget which airport), I was the only non-Puerto Rican on board. When we landed after a non-eventful flight, the entire plane erupted in applause. A cultural thing?
Clapping when a plane lands is common in some places, but after some search I couldn’t figure out exactly where this is most common. It’s similar to saying “Thank you” to the bus driver when you leave a bus. It’s common in some places, but I couldn’t figure out just which places.
I’m a farmer, and I’d love to actually know the temp, chance of rain, and wind speed a week or more away.
Weather forecasts do go out a week or more; but I keep track of what happens. The temperature forecast that far out will be roughly, but only roughly, accurate – and when I say roughly, I mean there may be enough difference to change ‘certainly not going to frost’ into ‘hard freeze expected’. The rainfall forecast that far out is absolutely and entirely unreliable; the forecast that’s given may change several times before the date actually arrives, and the actual rainfall is still sometimes not in line with the forecast given even the day before, or occasionally even the day of. The wind speed NOAA doesn’t even give till three days out, and then it’s in the “roughly reliable” category.
I gather that there are places in the world where the weather’s more or less the same for weeks or months, and long range forecasts there may be more accurate. But they certainly aren’t that accurate everywhere.
Of course, for avoiding flight turbulence, it’s going to be the immediate forecast that counts. I’m sure pilots aren’t deciding how to avoid turbulence based on a forecast from a week before the flight.
