Pat89339

I am currently required to fly with oxygen and I have accumulated quite a bit of information regarding its availability on UA planes. I thought this information might be handy to others who may face the same situation or know someone who needs to fly with O2 on UA.

You need to arrange for Medical Oxygen at least 48 hours in advance of the flight, by calling United and giving them the flight information. The Medical Desk will contact you for your doctor's information and they will send him the Oxygen Request form to complete and fax back.

If you are a frequent flyer, you can have your doctor sign a blanket request so you do not have to contact him/her for each flight. UA will accept a blanket request for up to 12 months, by indicating that on the Oxygen Request form in the Physician Section under Special Instructions. You can find the form on this page of united.com.

Even though all other legacy carriers complied two years ago with the federal mandate that personal oxygen concentrators be allowed for use on planes, UA has not. However, they will be forced to comply with the deadline of May 13, 2009. I guess they are holding onto that $125 per segment revenue stream for as long as they can.

After the compliance date UA plans to continue to offer medical oxygen on flights, while other legacy carriers don't. This actually is a benefit, because in order to fly with a personal oxygen concentrator on all the other legacy carriers you need to carry sufficient batteries for up to 150% of your flight time. UA hasn't come out with their rules yet, but they will be that at a minimum. So even if I had my own POC I would opt for their O2 on International flights to save the expense of purchasing several batteries.

That being said, UA provides medical oxygen only at the following seats in the following aircraft:

You might as well pick one of these seats at the start, even though most of them are not great, or they will just move you out of your choice and into an approved seat.

The truly aggravating part is that the plane I am on the most is the 777 2-class plane which has no O2 access anywhere in the E+ section. With IM holding onto upgrades until the gate nowadays, it looks like I'm going to be stuck in E- until mid-May. UA will not move the O2 to a new seat for me if I get upgraded at the gate because there won't be time. In fact I have been told it is questionable as to whether they will move my O2 to an upgraded seat unless it is confirmed 48 hours in advance.

swdke

I have an aunt who wishes to travel from LAX to DAY to attend a family reunion. However, she used medical oxygen. She claims she would need it on the flight, and I am aware she can't use her own on the flight. The UA website states that for a fee, along with a completed form signed by a doctor, UA can provide inflight medical oxygen. Has anyone done this before? Did UA actually provide the medical oxygen for the flight as requested. Anyone have any experience or knowledge about this situation they can share? I am on hold with UA for about 30 min. as they look into this. Not sure why it's taking them so long, and maked me wonder if UA can be relied upon to follow through and actually provide the medical oxygen even if the fee and forms are provided. Any idea what the fee may be? Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

fastair

Yes, I see this a few times per week.

The process is very standard. You would contact UA reservations, and you would need to talk to the Detroit Medical desk part, where UA will then get data from her doctor re:flow rates and such. This part is required. Minimum time on this, I believe is48 hours, but most people do it at least 1 week in advance. Prior to your flight (and sometimes a few flights before depending on where the plane is coming from) UA aircraft mechanics board the plane, and install a tank as well as a tune hanging down above the seat. Most planes have only a few seats that they use to, so seat changes may occur.

When you cjeckin at the gate, prior to boarding, ask the CSR to check onboard to make sure that it is already installed or in the process of being installed.

Viola.

Many people feel they need O2, but without the doctor stating so, and giving UA the details, it is something that will not be accomplished. Many people will have a medical supply company provide them O2 in the airport, leaving the tank behind as well. I believe most airports use only a few contractors as the tank cannot be brought onboard.

UnitedF1RST

Well its not exactly like you're just ordering a special meal because of dietary restrictions. If that was the case they could at least give you some pretzels and water to keep you sustained throughout the flight. But we're talking about medicinal oxygen here and I'd be hard pressed to think that UA would just disregard the request.

Mrotenfan

AFAIK, once you order the oxygen, your aunt's name, doctor's name and contact number will appear on flight information; mechanics will install the tank above her seat, with mask and tubes all set to go, all she has to do is just to take her seat, put on the mask, flight attendant will come and turn on for her. She just leaves every thing upon arrival. Same goes to next connecting flight.
Be sure to notify United if she changes her routing at last minute for whatever reason. It doesn't hurt either to double check with agents while checking in. Can't tell you about the fee though. Hope everything goes smoothly for you and your aunt...

LAX UA 1K

A portable oxygen concentrator (also sometimes called a generator) may be another option for in-flight use on some airlines. These devices concetrate oxygen in the air (they remove the nitrogen so the result is largely oxygen) and do not use tanks. The FAA has approved them for airplane use and they resemble a carryon bag. United does not allow their use in flight, but some other airlines do.

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,1043,00.html

Charles

Loren Pechtel

I've never used it, I have been bumped out of my seat because ours was one of the seats that could take the tank.

chavada

Has anyone ever had the oxygen service provided by UA ? I need to make arrangements for some flights next month, and I wondered what the set-up looked like ? I understand they charge $ 100.00 / segment . Thanks

hawkxp

Seen them run a tube out of the overhead and duct tape it to wall. FA thread is probably the place for more in-flight info.

A while back I was standing first in line on red carpet (yea,yea,yea with both bluetooth), GA calls a young guy over who did not speak very good English. Trys to tell him to go to counter to pay some charge. After he left she tells me that he ordered O2 but hadn't paid for it. Says with a wink "yea, people try to get by with that all the time".

Loren Pechtel

Got kicked out of our seats at check-in once because of this. They were mounting oxygen gear in the overhead space above our old seats. I didn't see what was done to get it from the tanks in the bin to the passenger. Apparently only certain seats are suitable and we happened to be in the one they needed.

At least they found other E+ seats for us. (Transpac)

sfosolo

About three months ago, I arranged for and flew with a family member who required oxygen during flight. You will have to contact the UA Aeromedical department, provide them a medical prescription that specifies the oxygen flow rate required, and pay $100 per flight. We flew SFO-LHR in C on a 777. The oxygen tank was quite large and heavy for that long flight and was mounted in the overhead compartment with a tube duct-taped to the ceiling / wall for passenger comfort. The technician who installed the tank was very helpful and even flipped the heavy tank around to provide a longer length of tube so it was comfortable even with the seat fully reclined. Only certain seats are suitable for oxygen and the GA did some polite juggling of seats in order to get us seated in the appropriate seats. For the amount of special attention that it required in organizing, installing, and FA monitoring during flight, I thought the $100 cost was more than justified.

chavada

I flew recently ICN-SFO-ORD-SFO-ICN.
I needed oxygen service on each leg. I made arrangements in advance, and UA handled it well.
There are only certain seats you can sit in with this request, and it sometimes means that they may have to move someone from their preassigned seats in order to accommodate me, and my traveling companion. I am sorry about that happening. I usually try to book well in advance so I can get the required seats, and not have to disrupt anyone.
The flight attendants looked after me, and I didn't have a concern. ^^^

supacoo

Glad it worked out well for you. My father-in-law must fly with oxygen too, and hasn't been able to find many flights that will accommodate this need.

bmvaughn

Any idea which seats accomodate oxygen on each bird? That would be helpful information

VibeGuy

On 757 Y, it's almost always 10ABC or 11 ABCDEF.