Good day,
I have flown many times in the year and a half that I had my ileostomy. The latest was a round trip to and from Europe. Flights were over 12 hours. A few things I've found. When going through TSA, your bag will be detected during the body scan. Most screeners will ask what is in the area of your stomach. I'd advise that I was wearing an ostomy bag. I'd then ask to rub the area over my stomach, then they would wipe my hands with a small pad. This was put into a screener to detect any explosive residue. It was very low-key and quick. An exception to this was when we left Amsterdam. I wear an ostomy bag support belt. I went through the scanner and this was detected. The screener asked about "my belt". I advised that it was a support belt for my ostomy bag. There must have been a language barrier because he did not seem to understand what I was saying. I repeated "ostomy bag" a few times as he started tugging at the belt. After I showed him, he asked again, "belt?, belt?" Getting a little frustrated, I said, "It's for my Sh@ ;Sack!". He then let me through. I went to the gate and began boarding about 2 hours later. After I gave my boarding pass, I was asked to step aside for another search. I went to an area away from the line and a more detailed search of my person and packages was conducted. Having nothing to hide, I was let on. I later realized that I may have overreacted to the initial searcher. He quite possibly thought I was calling him a Sh@ Sack, thus the additional attention prior to boarding the plane. Lesson learned, be patient..... I've been to nearly 10 airports and the bag was detected. At Heathrow, however, there was a metal detector. That did not pick up my bag, so I was waved past the body scanner. Hard to figure that out.
While on the plane, I use the same rules as before surgery (and with UC). Go before you board and sit on an aisle. When using the bathroom on the plane, drop some toilet paper in the toilet before you empty your bag. It's pretty noticeable when you have to flush three times for the bowl to empty. That loud sucking noise can be heard throughout the plane.
Hope these little bits of insight can help. Aside from these little incidents, the bag was barely a concern.
Have a great trip,
SharkFan