Not all airlines stock sanitary products on board. Photo / 123rf
While cycles vary, a standard period occurs every month, but preparing for them can be difficult. So what are travellers supposed to do if “that time of the month” strikes while on a flight? And are the airlines commonly used by Kiwis prepared to help?
When Iman Orths asked cabin crew on an easyJet flight for sanitary pads as she began heavily bleeding, she was shocked to be told the airline couldn’t help her.
“I’m heavily on my period and I’ve forgotten extra pads and I need one right now and they don’t have them on the plane – unless cabin crew have them,” the British-based model and music artist said in a TikTok video.
Orths, who was filming herself on the 2.5-hour flight from London to Palma de Mallorca in Spain, said in the video that none of the staff (three men and one woman) had any on them so was told to ask fellow passengers, which she was reluctant to do as she was bleeding. “I can’t go over the whole plane,” she said.
@lovefromiman @easyJet don’t keep emergency sanitary products on planes!?? come onnn think of women pls it’s 2024 🫠 #feminist #periodshame #storytime
♬ original sound - IMAN
Eventually, her sister was able to find someone with a spare pad.
“Come onnn think of women pls it’s 2024,” she wrote in the video’s caption, which has been viewed more than 220,000 times.
An easyJet spokesperson told the Herald they recommend passengers to bring their own essentials.
“While we appreciate the difficulty of this customer’s situation, we do not stock period products on board and would advise customers to ensure they have brought with them anything they may need while on board.”
Preparing for something that can technically arrive at any time is not always possible, however. From medication and hormone levels to stress, many factors influence the date and frequency of a period.
The Herald has reached out to Orths for comment.
In New Zealand, it’s not unusual to find sanitary products offered for free or for coinage at schools, universities, shopping malls and workplaces. While many have to spend hours at these places daily, they’re not usually confined to them. Unlike on a flight.
Orths may have drawn the short straw that day, but the situation is hardly unique. About 800 million people menstruate every single day. On a long-haul flight from Auckland to London, a person has roughly a one in 30 chance of it being that time of the month. Most flights from Auckland to the United States are at least 12 hours long, meaning there’s about a one in 60 chance of a person getting their period during the flight.
So how prepared are our airlines if travellers find themselves caught out by their period? A Herald investigation revealed which major carriers used frequently by Kiwis carry emergency period products.
New Zealand’s aviation industry does not mandate airlines to carry a stash of pads and tampons. This means it is entirely up to the airline to have them or not. It appears this is also the favoured approach globally.
Air New Zealand chooses to have them. Customer experience general manager Kylie McGillivray-Brown said the airline wants all its passengers to have an “exceptional and comfortable” experience on board.
“Part of our promise is to provide manaaki [a Māori concept meaning to look after or to sustain], taking care further than any other airline. That’s why, with manaaki in mind, we have sanitary pads and tampons available by request from crew on our jet aircraft,” she said.
The national carrier is not alone. Qantas and its budget airline Jetstar both confirmed to the Herald that period products are available on their flights.
Like easyJet, Virgin Australia does not carry sanitary products on board, although it has said it regularly seeks and reviews feedback from its customers and has not received requests for them.
Some carriers, such as Delta Air Lines, Singapore Airlines and Latam Airlines, store pads for passengers in a “period compartment” inside the toilets marked by a squarish icon representing sanitary pads.
While an accessible and private compartment is good news for menstruators, not everyone knows it exists.
“Wish I’d known that when I went on holiday and had to run back through to the duty-free shops as the period came (out of the blue) as we were waiting to board a plane,” read a comment in a post sharing a picture of the said compartment on the subreddit “Life Hacks”.
Airlines typically don’t put this information on their websites, or mention it in their safety briefings or announcements on board.
Some passengers have also shared videos on social media showing the compartment not stocked up or filled with something other than sanitary products. Social entrepreneur Nadya Okamoto, who was on a Latam flight, shared footage online of the compartment filled with paper towels instead.
There could be several reasons airlines don’t assertively communicate how passengers can get hold of sanitary products on board should they need them. According to Jo Atkins-Potts, head of communications for British-based charity Bloody Good Period, stigma doesn’t help.
Speaking to Metro, Atkins-Potts said: “Period products are rarely prioritised in public spaces, and this oversight is driven by deep-rooted period stigma and shame, which continue to limit conversations and progress on menstrual equity.”
It’s not just the frequency of periods that are the problem. Symptoms can worsen too. According to Auckland-based endocrinologist Dr Sasha Nair, sufferers of premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, may find their symptoms intensify after take-off if they are also stressed or sleep deprived.
Read more: How does travel affect hormones?
Then there’s the accessibility issue. Hygiene poverty is real; even if one knew the exact second it was going to hit code red, not all households can afford sanitary items. In 2020, an analysis by University of Otago researchers estimated 94,788 girls aged 9 to 18 from the country’s poorest households were unlikely to afford pads or tampons.
Even if we set the issues of health, hygiene, and accessibility aside, the fact remains if periods on a plane are a problem, it’s an inevitable one. Periods are not a choice for those who experience them. So why don’t all airlines provide sanitary products on board? And if they do, do passengers know about it?
Should a passenger find themselves in the situation of getting their period on a flight with no products on board, here’s what they can do:
Speak to the cabin crew: Staff generally do not want you to suffer and bleed in your clothing and on your seat. If they know of your situation, they may be able to help. See if they can ask other passengers for extra pads if you’re uncomfortable leaving your seat.
Toilet paper method: Not ideal. But if there was no other option, make a pad out of a wad of toilet paper.
Aisle seat: If it would be more comfortable, ask the cabin crew if you could be seated closer to the bathroom in an aisle seat given you may need to make frequent trips.
Remain calm and remember, there’s nothing to feel ashamed about.
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