Flying with a Portable Oxygen Concentrator
7 min readSources checked
Airline and government rules change. Check your airline's current rules before you travel.
Quick answer
Do not arrive at the airport with a portable oxygen concentrator and assume a prescription is enough. The airline needs the make and model, may require medical approval, and sets its own battery requirement. Confirm all of that before paying for a non-refundable ticket.
A portable oxygen concentrator is not the same thing as a personal cylinder of compressed oxygen, and airlines and regulators treat the two differently. The work that makes the trip go smoothly happens before the ticket is paid for: confirming the exact device with every operating airline, completing any medical approval, and planning battery time for the whole journey rather than the scheduled time in the air.
Scope: Practical preparation for travellers who need a portable oxygen concentrator. Canadian screening and an Air Canada example are identified as such, and United States acceptance rules are identified separately. This is travel information, not medical advice.
Part of: Flying with Medical Equipment, Flying with a Disability
What changes by airline
- Which concentrator models the airline accepts
- Whether medical approval is required, and the deadline for it
- How much battery capacity the airline requires for the whole itinerary
- Whether the device may run during every phase of flight
- Whether the concentrator counts against the carry-on allowance
General advice: applies wherever you fly
Plan the whole journey, not the flight time
If you need oxygen continuously, the plan has to cover boarding, taxi, a delay, a missed connection and the trip from the arrival gate to where you are staying. All of that uses battery time, and none of it appears on the ticket.
Work out the total time from leaving home to arriving at the destination, then add the reserve the airline requires. A plan built around the scheduled flight time alone leaves nothing for the parts of the day that run late.
General advice: applies wherever you fly
Start with the clinician who manages your prescription
Air travel can involve lower cabin pressure than you experience on the ground, so the setting you normally use may not be the setting your clinician recommends for a flight. Ask before you book, because the answer can change which itinerary is realistic.
FlyingWith cannot determine whether you are fit to travel or choose a flow setting. That decision belongs to the person who manages your oxygen prescription.
General advice: applies wherever you fly
Ask the operating airline these questions
A ticket may display one airline's name while another airline operates the aircraft. The operating carrier's rules are the ones that matter at the airport, so ask each one separately. Give the accessibility or medical desk the exact make and model, whether you need continuous or pulse flow, when you plan to use the unit, and the watt-hour rating of every battery.
Checklist
- Is this exact make and model accepted on every flight in the itinerary?
- Is a medical form required, and when is it due?
- How will the approval be recorded, and can I have written confirmation?
- How much battery capacity is required for the complete itinerary?
- May the device run during taxi, takeoff, cruise and landing?
- Does the concentrator count against the carry-on allowance?
- Where must the unit be placed during takeoff and landing?
Official rules: Air Canada
Air Canada: medical approval and battery reserve
Air Canada currently says that a passenger who will use a personal oxygen concentrator onboard needs advance medical approval and enough battery power for one and a half times the total travel time. Its page also warns that onboard outlets cannot be used to power medical devices.
That is an Air Canada requirement and it can change. It is not a promise about any other airline, and another carrier may ask for more notice, a different form or a different reserve.
Official rules: United States
United States: which concentrators are accepted
For flights covered by United States rules, an accepted concentrator must meet Federal Aviation Administration acceptance criteria or be one of the older models listed in the regulation. Newer qualifying devices carry a red statement from the manufacturer confirming that the model meets those criteria.
Check the label on the actual unit you will carry, not only the model name on a rental receipt. Worth knowing: a rental company can supply a different version of a model than the one you were quoted, and the label is what the airline reads at the gate.
General advice: applies wherever you fly
Batteries and what the airline needs to see
Keep the concentrator, essential accessories and spare batteries with you. Do not put equipment you need during the journey in checked baggage. Protect each spare battery from damage and short circuit with its original case, a separate protective pouch or covered terminals, and do not travel with a swollen, damaged or recalled battery.
Look for the watt-hour marking on every lithium battery, and contact the manufacturer before travelling if it is missing. Battery limits depend on the device, battery type, route and operating carrier. Give the airline the specifications for every battery and obtain any required approval. Do not assume that a mobility-device battery exception applies to a portable oxygen concentrator.
Pack the power supply, charging cable, cannula, any approved extension and a short written instruction sheet. If the device has a removable humidifier bottle, ask the airline and the screening authority how it must be emptied and packed.
Do not rely on a seat power outlet. It may not exist, may not work, may be switched off during part of the flight or may be unsuitable for medical equipment. Your battery plan should still work if the outlet never turns on.
Official rules: Canada
Canada: airport screening
At a Canadian airport, CATSA lists personal oxygen concentrators among permitted medical devices. Medical equipment can require additional screening, including a swab for explosive-trace detection.
Tell the screening officer before the process begins if the device cannot be disconnected or exposed to a particular screening method. Arriving early enough to answer a documentation question without losing the flight is part of the plan, not a precaution.
General advice: applies wherever you fly
At the gate and on board
At the gate, confirm that the crew has received the medical notation and that your assigned seat works with the device. Keep the unit and tubing clear of the aisle, an exit route and another passenger's access, and put the concentrator where the crew directs you.
Tell a flight attendant promptly if the unit alarms, a battery overheats or your condition changes. A battery that becomes hot, expands, smokes or smells unusual is an immediate safety issue.
Worth knowing: if a delay begins, look at remaining battery time early rather than waiting until the last battery is nearly empty. Ask the airline's accessibility staff about safe charging or rebooking arrangements, and do not plug the device into an outlet unless the airline has confirmed that you may.
General advice: applies wherever you fly
Checklist
Checklist
- Confirm fitness to fly and the prescribed onboard setting with your clinician
- Verify the exact device model with every operating airline
- Complete the airline's medical approval process by its deadline
- Carry written confirmation of approval
- Calculate battery time for the whole journey plus the airline's required reserve
- Check the watt-hour marking and condition of every battery
- Protect spare battery terminals and keep the batteries in carry-on baggage
- Bring the power supply, cables, cannula and basic device instructions
- Arrive early and reconfirm the request at the gate
- Keep the unit and tubing clear of aisles and exit routes
General advice: applies wherever you fly
Next step
Before booking, open the medical equipment page for the airline that will operate each flight and search for your exact concentrator model.
Official sources
Rules and amounts change. Before you rely on anything marked as an official rule, check the source. These are the official pages we used.
- Medical devices and oxygen · Air Canada
- Accessibility and Medical Needs · Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA)
- Medication and Medical Items · Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA)
- Acceptance Criteria for Portable Oxygen Concentrators · Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
- PackSafe: Portable Oxygen Concentrators · Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Next step
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