bikes on planes revisited

A while back I posted a brief rant about how Lufthansa made me deflate
the tires on my bike before they would accept the bike as checked
baggage, how I ended up re-inflating a pair of fat touring tires with a
hand pump in the arrival area of Florence Peretola Airport while in a
jet-lagged, sleep deprived stupor, and how I had sent an e-mail to
Lufthansa customer relations politely questioning the need for such a
policy.

I came home from work last night to find a message from Lufthansa on my
answering machine, from the same customer service rep I spoke to after
sending the e-mail. The lady told me that Lufthansa had re-evaluated the
policy, they had determined that it was not necessary to deflate bicycle
tires for air travel, and they were revising the policy regarding
bicycle tires immediately.

I was gratified to hear that Lufthansa reexamined their policy and
changed it because of my e-mail, and I was pleasantly surprised to get a
phone call from them telling me that they had changed their rules.

I hope to do another Italy trip in about two years time, and I will
probably fly Lufthansa again. My guess is that I spent a lot less time
e-mailing and calling Lufthansa and posting to this newsgroup about this
issue than I would re inflating my tires before I can ride out of the
airport on my next tour.

mark

mark wrote:
A while back I posted a brief rant about how Lufthansa made me deflate
the tires on my bike before they would accept the bike as checked
baggage, how I ended up re-inflating a pair of fat touring tires with
a hand pump in the arrival area of Florence Peretola Airport while in
a jet-lagged, sleep deprived stupor, and how I had sent an e-mail to
Lufthansa customer relations politely questioning the need for such a
policy.

I came home from work last night to find a message from Lufthansa on
my answering machine, from the same customer service rep I spoke to
after sending the e-mail. The lady told me that Lufthansa had
re-evaluated the policy, they had determined that it was not
necessary to deflate bicycle tires for air travel, and they were
revising the policy regarding bicycle tires immediately.

I was gratified to hear that Lufthansa reexamined their policy and
changed it because of my e-mail, and I was pleasantly surprised to
get a phone call from them telling me that they had changed their
rules.
I hope to do another Italy trip in about two years time, and I will
probably fly Lufthansa again. My guess is that I spent a lot less time
e-mailing and calling Lufthansa and posting to this newsgroup about
this issue than I would re inflating my tires before I can ride out
of the airport on my next tour.

Nice when something goes that way, eh? Thanks for posting it.

Bill "frustrated dealing with corporations lately" S.

mark wrote:
A while back I posted a brief rant about how Lufthansa made me deflate
the tires on my bike before they would accept the bike as checked
baggage, how I ended up re-inflating a pair of fat touring tires with a
hand pump in the arrival area of Florence Peretola Airport while in a
jet-lagged, sleep deprived stupor, and how I had sent an e-mail to
Lufthansa customer relations politely questioning the need for such a
policy.

I came home from work last night to find a message from Lufthansa on my
answering machine, from the same customer service rep I spoke to after
sending the e-mail. The lady told me that Lufthansa had re-evaluated the
policy, they had determined that it was not necessary to deflate bicycle
tires for air travel, and they were revising the policy regarding
bicycle tires immediately.

I was gratified to hear that Lufthansa reexamined their policy and
changed it because of my e-mail, and I was pleasantly surprised to get a
phone call from them telling me that they had changed their rules.

I hope to do another Italy trip in about two years time, and I will
probably fly Lufthansa again. My guess is that I spent a lot less time
e-mailing and calling Lufthansa and posting to this newsgroup about this
issue than I would re inflating my tires before I can ride out of the
airport on my next tour.

mark

This was probably asked and answered on the prior thread but just in
case...

If the tires are fully inflated and the luggage compartment is not
pressurized, what will happen to the tires? I envision you arriving at
your destination having to replace two tires rather than simply having
to inflate two tires.

Jeff

Some years ago I worked in the airline biz, including occasional
baggage claim losses. It was always my understanding that the baggage
compartments on commercial jet aircraft were pressurized to the same
extent as the passenger cabin. I suspect it is easier to design the
plane that way. It also prevents bottles and cans (shaving soap, etc.)
in luggage from popping open. Animals are shipped in these
compartments (that's another story), so they're not going to let them
de-pressurize to 35K elevation.

Mark is right that there's no need to deflate the tires on a bike, any
more than you should "depressurize" your can of shaving soap.

Dave

wrote:
mark wrote:
A while back I posted a brief rant about how Lufthansa made me deflate
the tires on my bike before they would accept the bike as checked
baggage, how I ended up re-inflating a pair of fat touring tires with a
hand pump in the arrival area of Florence Peretola Airport while in a
jet-lagged, sleep deprived stupor, and how I had sent an e-mail to
Lufthansa customer relations politely questioning the need for such a
policy.

I came home from work last night to find a message from Lufthansa on my
answering machine, from the same customer service rep I spoke to after
sending the e-mail. The lady told me that Lufthansa had re-evaluated the
policy, they had determined that it was not necessary to deflate bicycle
tires for air travel, and they were revising the policy regarding
bicycle tires immediately.

I was gratified to hear that Lufthansa reexamined their policy and
changed it because of my e-mail, and I was pleasantly surprised to get a
phone call from them telling me that they had changed their rules.

I hope to do another Italy trip in about two years time, and I will
probably fly Lufthansa again. My guess is that I spent a lot less time
e-mailing and calling Lufthansa and posting to this newsgroup about this
issue than I would re inflating my tires before I can ride out of the
airport on my next tour.

mark

This was probably asked and answered on the prior thread but just in
case...

If the tires are fully inflated and the luggage compartment is not
pressurized, what will happen to the tires? I envision you arriving at
your destination having to replace two tires rather than simply having
to inflate two tires.

Jeff

wrote:

If the tires are fully inflated and the luggage compartment is not
pressurized, what will happen to the tires? I envision you arriving at
your destination having to replace two tires rather than simply having
to inflate two tires.

Not to worry. Even if the plane flew into space from a sea level
airport, there would be less than a 15psi relative increase in the
tire air pressure. So unless you're pumping your tires to within a
few psi of blowing off the rim when traveling, this is a virtual
non-issue.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

wrote:


This was probably asked and answered on the prior thread but just in
case...

If the tires are fully inflated and the luggage compartment is not
pressurized, what will happen to the tires? I envision you arriving at
your destination having to replace two tires rather than simply having
to inflate two tires.

Jeff


If the tires are fully inflated and the luggage compartment is not
pressurized, the tires will be over inflated by something less than 15
psi. This is not enough to blow a tire off a rim unless something is
already wrong with the tire or rim.

If the rim is already damaged (scored by a sharp rock that got caught in
the brake pad is a common scenario) it's possible that such a pressure
fluctuation would accelerate the onset of rim failure, but in such an
instance the rim is already damaged and should have been replaced before
traveling anywhere with the bike.. Ditto for sidewall cuts, etc. in the
tire.

mark

"mark" wrote: (clip) If the rim is already damaged (scored by a sharp rock
that got caught in
the brake pad is a common scenario) it's possible that such a pressure
fluctuation would accelerate the onset of rim failure, but in such an
instance the rim is already damaged and should have been replaced before
traveling anywhere with the bike.. Ditto for sidewall cuts, etc. in the
tire.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is exactly right. We do occasionally hear about tires blowing off that
are on the ground. However, realistically, if the airline continues this
relaxed policy, eventually someone us going to have a blowout in the luggage
compartment, and the "experts" at the airline will initiate a policy
requiring that all tires be deflated.

Leo Lichtman wrote:
"mark" wrote: (clip) If the rim is already damaged (scored by a sharp rock
that got caught in
the brake pad is a common scenario) it's possible that such a pressure
fluctuation would accelerate the onset of rim failure, but in such an
instance the rim is already damaged and should have been replaced before
traveling anywhere with the bike.. Ditto for sidewall cuts, etc. in the
tire.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is exactly right. We do occasionally hear about tires blowing off that
are on the ground. However, realistically, if the airline continues this
relaxed policy, eventually someone us going to have a blowout in the luggage
compartment, and the "experts" at the airline will initiate a policy
requiring that all tires be deflated.



Which is exactly why I don't fly commercial anymore. Air travel has
gotten ridiculous and I don't want to be one of the sheep that puts up
with it. It was bad enough back in 2001 when every single seat was sold
out on every flight and it was like being in a sardine can at 30,000+
feet. Now with the security checks and waits I can probably drive there
faster and not have to rent a car when I get there.
OT, the blowout scene is absurdly unlikely, but the bang in the baggage
compartment might cause mass panic. Of course it makes no sense to panic
if you just heard the plane blow something at 30,000 feet because at
that point you kind of know you are screwed anyway.
On one of my last voluntary commuter trips I was in the back of a 727
trying to get to know a real fox over the noise of the center engine
when we both heard a loud THUD and it got quiet enough to talk. Then the
captain came on and said we would be flying at a slightly reduced speed
so expect to arrive late. He never said anything to the passengers, but
after I got off the plane in the grey bowl of Los Angeles soup I saw the
plane being moved to the maintenance hangar.
Makes you wonder how much really goes wrong that you never hear about.
Bill Baka

Leo Lichtman wrote:
"mark" wrote: (clip) If the rim is already damaged (scored by a sharp rock
that got caught in
the brake pad is a common scenario) it's possible that such a pressure
fluctuation would accelerate the onset of rim failure, but in such an
instance the rim is already damaged and should have been replaced before
traveling anywhere with the bike.. Ditto for sidewall cuts, etc. in the
tire.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is exactly right. We do occasionally hear about tires blowing off that
are on the ground. However, realistically, if the airline continues this
relaxed policy, eventually someone us going to have a blowout in the luggage
compartment, and the "experts" at the airline will initiate a policy
requiring that all tires be deflated.



Hopefully the airline will do what British Airways does, which is to put
a note on the website telling travelers that they *may* wish to
partially or fully deflate their bicycle tires, and that the airline is
not responsible for any blowouts, etc.

mark

Jeff who? writes:

This was probably asked and answered on the prior thread but just in
case...

If the tires are fully inflated and the luggage compartment is not
pressurized, what will happen to the tires? I envision you arriving
at your destination having to replace two tires rather than simply
having to inflate two tires.

How do you arrive upon that conclusion?

Consider that if the bicycle were placed in a vacuum the effective
pressure on the tires casings would increase by about 14.7 psi. Note
that most good road bicycle tires will withstand 200psi but we don't
generally ride that way except for tire tests.

All that aside, commercial aircraft are pressurized so that pets
traveling in a shipping cage are relatively comfortable in a heated
pressurized baggage compartment... along with the bicycles and bags.

Jobst Brandt