Anyone else unable to sleep on planes?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Ugh.. I feel for you dparm! Lots of people I work with travel constantly. I've positioned myself to stay away from those "career opportunities" over the years, because I don't like traveling w/out my family. I cant sleep in any moving vehicle unless I'm ready to pass out from exhaustion, I'm sick, etc..

I couldn't tell you the last time I had any type of quality, normal sleep. I do regular rotating 12hr shifts and have so for 16yrs. On day shifts (5a-5p) I get up at 0315. That and the combination of four kids, 21months to 11yrs, lessens my chances. I wake up hourly, or less sometimes.

They require us to take sleep management training too.
frown.gif
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: dparm
My job is 100% travel -- every Monday through Thursday or Friday. That means waking up at 3am and taking a 6am flight, and taking late-night flights on Thursdays or Fridays (9pm or later).

Despite the fact I am half-asleep on Mondays and exhausted on Fridays, I absolutely cannot sleep on planes. I can space out, but I never fall asleep.

I flew 67 segments last year, so it's not a matter of nerves. Anyone else totally unable to sleep on planes?




After years of flying KC135's and B52's in the AF on 20+ hour missions or ORI's
( Operational Readiness Inspections ) and having eight powerful jet engines hollering in your ears, it's a breeze today to take a nap while someone else capably handles the flying responsibilities and with the comparatively quiet modern jet engines. Let one of those engines rise or fall in pitch, or have a compressor stall, and I'm very wide awake.
 
I cant sleep on a plane. Too noisy and just cant get that comfortable no matter what size the plane. I guess if I ever took a really long flight to the other side of the planet, I would need some pills to knock myself out!
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
Ugh.. I feel for you dparm! Lots of people I work with travel constantly. I've positioned myself to stay away from those "career opportunities" over the years, because I don't like traveling w/out my family. I cant sleep in any moving vehicle unless I'm ready to pass out from exhaustion, I'm sick, etc..



Fortunately (unfortunately?) I am single and unmarried. No pets...not even a houseplant to take care of, so traveling is fine for me.

I actually like traveling alone at times since I can set my own schedule and do whatever I want.
 
I have no problems sleeping on planes. I once fell asleep while taxiing before takeoff and didn't wake up until the wheels hit the tarmac when landing a few hours later. And that was probably on a Southwest non-exit row, but may have been a window seat.
 
Unfortunately, the days of me sleeping on a plane are over. The way that they pack planes like sardine cans doesn't allow for much of that IME. In the last 5-6 years, we have had 6 or 7 plane trips including one to London. The most empty seats on any plane during that time was three. Weekend before last, we flew to Orlando for a family wedding. Coming back on a late night flight on Southwest on a Monday evening, there were zero empty seats. The only break that we had on that flight is that we were first on and we managed to get first row seats.

Now when I went to Sydney in 1982 and had an entire row to myself along with free drinks, that made for nice sleeping.
 
I have no problems sleeping on planes. If it's night time and eveyrone else is quiet the sound of the wind and engines actually helps me fall asleep. At home I use a fan or air conditioner. If it's noisy I'll wear headphones with music and that helps. same thing applies in cars.
 
I can't sleep anywhere in public at least not since high school lol. I can barely fall asleep in a hotel room.
 
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I can't sleep anywhere in public at least not since high school lol. I can barely fall asleep in a hotel room.


My biggest problem with hotel rooms is they are usually WAY too quiet. If it's dead quiet, I can't fall asleep the silence bothers me. I need to have white noise of some kind. A fan, an A/C. I always have to turn on the blower fan in the hotel room to fall asleep.
 
I know what you mean but for me I like it quiet when sleeping. Hotels are sometimes too noisy to sleep in late, water running, doors banging, housekeeping making racket etc lol. The real problem for me is the hotel has to be high end with a nice bed, clean and newish before I can get comfortable. Some of them seem stale and musty.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I can't sleep anywhere in public at least not since high school lol. I can barely fall asleep in a hotel room.


My biggest problem with hotel rooms is they are usually WAY too quiet. If it's dead quiet, I can't fall asleep the silence bothers me. I need to have white noise of some kind. A fan, an A/C. I always have to turn on the blower fan in the hotel room to fall asleep.


Thanks to college (and partying neighbors), I have a hard time sleeping if there isn't a fan running.
 
That's nothing, it took me over 18 hours to go from STL to DEN a few years ago.

I could have driven it in 12 or 13
smile.gif


I can't sleep on planes. I can't sleep in cars either FWIW.

Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: 79sunrunner
On an 18 hour flight to and from Hawaii, I too could not sleep. The annoying kids movie was wayyyy too loud and in the late hours when all were about too sleep (including me), a few of the little kids ran up and down the halls screaming. Obviously the parents did not care. Now I know if kids were banned, it would hurt sales, but at least lock them in a seperate room if one desires to be obnoxious. Just my thoughts that wont be put in effect anyway.


18 hours to Hawaii!?!?

What kind of plane? A DC-3?
 
Originally Posted By: Tdbo
Unfortunately, the days of me sleeping on a plane are over. The way that they pack planes like sardine cans doesn't allow for much of that IME. In the last 5-6 years, we have had 6 or 7 plane trips including one to London. The most empty seats on any plane during that time was three. Weekend before last, we flew to Orlando for a family wedding. Coming back on a late night flight on Southwest on a Monday evening, there were zero empty seats. The only break that we had on that flight is that we were first on and we managed to get first row seats.

Now when I went to Sydney in 1982 and had an entire row to myself along with free drinks, that made for nice sleeping.



Sounds like you're flying busy routes at premium times. My planes are rarely 100% full. Sometimes there are about 10-15 open seats, and I have a few tricks to make sure the middle one stays open. :)

Then again, empty seats is not a good use of their fuel and planes, so I suspect they're trying to be as economical about it as possible.
 
I can't sleep on planes, even quiet red eyes, and wind up at destination delirious, and with a thorough contempt for humanity.

Not that the latter takes much. To those of you that dawdle and take your times retrieving your luggage from the overhead bins.....I've dreampt of torturing you.
 
Originally Posted By: wrcsixeight
I can't sleep on planes, even quiet red eyes, and wind up at destination delirious, and with a thorough contempt for humanity.

Not that the latter takes much. To those of you that dawdle and take your times retrieving your luggage from the overhead bins.....I've dreampt of torturing you.



Drives me nuts too. The flights I take are almost always 75%+ business travelers who pack light and know the routine. Last week was a disaster with Spring Breaks...tons of oblivious families and screaming kids everywhere. Really eats away at your sanity.
 
No problems sleeping on planes, except I'm 6'3" so assuming I have leg room, aisle seat etc...

Slept on cargo in the back of a C-130, lying down on jump seats in a KC-135 with a tank of O2 on my chest. Doesn't matter where, the best way to pass time on a long plane ride is dozing IMHO.
 
25 years ago, I had a horrible job as a flight engineer for an evil company (really true)

They had me working 35 hour shifts while flying from FL, to the far East and around China, Singapore, Japan and other locations. All without rest.

I learned to sleep standing up. I'd wedge myself in the entryway of the Gulfstream GIII (not much room there) and brace. The longest I slept like that was 4 hours. And, man did I hurt afterwards.
 
I've never slept on a plane but took an overnight bus trip and snored myself awake three times over 7 hours. Fantatically loud!
I'm also afraid I will pass gas in my sleep (never been told I do that but its plausable).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Jackson_Slugger
The Solar Eclipse & The Path to Totality
3 4 5
Replies
94
Views
3K
4WD
Brons2
Airline card credit card annual fees, wow $495?
2
Replies
30
Views
619
Cujet
GON
Still a lot of flowing USD everywhere
2 3
Replies
56
Views
3K
alarmguy
Nick1994
P06DD on the Grand Cherokee
Replies
16
Views
1K
dumkid
P
Frontier Airlines Rant - What a mess!
2
Replies
36
Views
4K
dishdude
Back
Top