You missed a bit over there

I'm sure we all remember the millennium bug, or Y2K as it became known as in more geeky circles (I can call us geeks because I was a software developer at the time).

Us software developer sorts sometimes get frustrated when people talk about it and laugh that after all the hype, nothing happened. Nothing happened because software devs like me worked crazy hours fixing old code to make sure nothing happened.

We'll, I guess some of my fellow geeks missed a bit.

American Airlines keeps mistaking 101-year-old passenger for baby

 

Hi @Clueless 1 v2 I remember the y2k bug well. At the university I used to work at, we had massive testing routines put in place and found several instances, including my favourite compiler suite at the time, Topspeed develoment environment. Not only did we have to replace a lot of software, I had to do it while learning new 'working environment.

 

Impressive to be fit enough to fly at 101!

 

I sort of agree, but I'm not sure why.

I've often heard people mention that you shouldn't fly when...

But nobody has ever given me an explanation as to why you shouldn't fly in certain circumstances.

Sitting down for too long increases the risk of DVT. You can sit for hours without being on a plane.

Air pressure changes do interesting things to your body. Yeah, my ears have popped driving my car up or down a big hill. Plus the air pressure changes all the time anyway, it's called weather.

I'm sure there is an explanation as to why air travel is dangerous for old people, or people that have just had surgery, or whatever. I'm curious to what that explanation is, if anyone knows?

 

My guess would partly be the risk of the recycled air leading to respiratory illnesses which can quickly morph into pneumonia in the very elderly.

Then there's mobility - getting in and out of seats, using tiny toilets, going up and down steps and ramps to board, etc.

 

Air pressure inside a plane is the equivalent to being 6 to 8,000ft up a mountain.
Maybe if you are getting on a bit you could have breathing difficulties if you are not used to living at any kind of altitude.

 

Being a cynical so-and-so, my guess is that the real reason is that they don't want the responsibility of people being taken ill during a flight (or going into labour) possibly requiring them to divert the fight to get medical attention which causes all kinds of knock-on chaos and costs them money, as well as delay in the ill person getting the treatment they need, so they prefer not to carry people whose risk is higher than average. I suspect they'd also like to minimise the numbers of passengers who need extra assistance (because cost).