8 health tips for flying from an aviation doctor – don’t forget wet wipes and grab the window seat
If you want to avoid germs, benefit from better airflow, reduce your risk of deep vein thrombosis and more, follow this advice from Aviation Medicine Advisory Service president and CEO Quay Snyder
Quay Snyder flies more than 130 times a year on commercial flights. As an aerospace medicine specialist, pilot and flight instructor, he feels perfectly safe in the air. But after each flight, to put his wife’s mind at ease, he’ll call her to say he has arrived without incident.
“I joke with my wife,” he says. “I give her a call and I say: ‘I’m starting the most dangerous part of my journey – I’m driving home.’”
His point: commercial airline travel is rarely dangerous. One person has died in the United States on a commercial airline in the past nine years, compared with nearly 40,000 a year who die in vehicle crashes. Snyder’s job, in the field of aviation medicine, is to help people stay healthy while flying.
As president and CEO of the Aviation Medicine Advisory Service, based in the US state of Colorado, Snyder assists pilots with health problems, advising them on how to be in top condition while in the air and on maintaining their Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical certification. He also consults with professional pilot and aviation safety organisations on optimising human performance and enhancing safety.
Snyder shared this advice for travellers on how to stay healthy while flying.
1. Separate fact from fiction when it comes to contagion