Comments on: At last, government clarifies airline seat pocket rules

By: Consumer Travel Alliance » Consumer Travel Alliance — changing seat pocket regulations

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:34:32 +0000

[...] Two months later, I received an email from the FAA informing me that the rule had been clarified. [...]

By: em Hoop

em Hoop — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:42:03 +0000

Jan
1-”Common sense” is extremely uncommon.
2-What appears common sense often is not because of the situation or the technology of our times.
3-Your and my common sense is not the same as other folks’ idea of common sense.
Would U text your boyfriend whilst driving a train full of commuters?
Would you take off on a hike in the mountains without proper equipment and clothing in case of a change in the weather?

Would you stuff your overlarge bag in the overhead and not make an adjustment of some sort when the cover latch pops before you get your seatbelt on. I’ve seen it happen.

When I read warnings about not letting children play with plastic bags, I cringe at the reason for this warning.

We need rules in order to keep our lives manageable and our huge population from falling into chaos. Govt.might make mistakes, because it’s made up of fallible people, but without rules, your life would be too busy cleaning up after other people’s common sense to spend time complaining about government.

By: Jan

Jan — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:45:52 +0000

Have we become over regulated or what? For a nation of people who proclaim that they don’t want big government, we have government regulations for everything. It’s pathetic when common sense is no longer the currency of normal people, just FAA (or some other government body) rules.

By: Rick Fercho

Rick Fercho — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:13:17 +0000

Perhaps betteer minds than mine can explain why a passanger belted into a seat and sitting on a windbreaker, sweater or other jacket is told to either wear the item or put it into overhead storage. Is this an FAA directive or an example of overzealous flight attendants?

By: Charlie Leocha

Charlie Leocha — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:55:51 +0000

We’ll see how this new “clarification” works out. I normally take all of the magazines and put them in the overhead baggage storage, so I have room for my own stuff and then can make sure I have everything when I leave. Of course Ryanair has solved the problem by removing the seat pockets from their aircraft. They don’t have the hassles of cleaning out these repositories for all sorts of junk and trash. Safety instructions are printed right on the back of the seat.

Hopefully, the airlines will implement responsible programs. I trust they will.

By: Ron

Ron — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:23:58 +0000

interesting if the 3lbs includes all the inflight magazines, duty free catalogs, and other materials provided by the airlines. I suspect it does. Based on how hefty some of those items are getting, I wonder if they alone could weigh more than 3lbs.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:18:54 +0000

Amy November 19, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Flight attendants who would fight over a soda bottle likely have other motivations for making such a big deal of that. The courts use a standard of reason to determine the extent of a law,
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Safety is a big part of our jobs. It may seem to you that a flight attendant’s request is bothersome to YOU, but, I can assure you, most requests ARE for your safety.
Yeahhh, Yeahhhh, like it really matters to have your seat in the upright and locked position. GUESS WHAT? It does. Two reasons.
Firstly, it allows everyone BEHIND YOU to have clear access to the aisle. Getting people off a BURNING AIRCRAFT better be quick. Studies show after 90 seconds, smoke inhalation and asphyxiation take over. They’ve done studies that prove this. It takes up to 90 MORE SECONDS when the seats are ALL RECLINED.
Secondly, it allows everyone to assume the BRACE POSITION better. You need your head down, bracing on the seat in front of you. Seat UP positions the passenger better.

As far as MY EXIT ROW, I wont allow newspapers on the floor there either. Imagine slipping on newspaper that is SITTING ON CARPET.
Get a mental picture of someone falling on their butt after slipping on newspaper? I do.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:06:44 +0000

The exit row seat with the “bungy cord and plastic cover” is technically not a seat pocket. There’s NO netting or fabric on them. I tried to look for one online and post a visual of it, but, I said, BUNGY CORD WITH A PLASTIC COVER. It only holds magazines and a vomit bag. By stretching it to hold a SODA BOTTLE, the contents of the seat pocket may fall into the floor, which is right in front of the emergency exits.
I used to carry a MEMO around, for the longest time, showing passengers WHAT cant be placed there. Apparently SEEING it in print convinces the skeptical passenger.

Karen C:
Having the window shades UP or at the emergency exits, DOWN, allows you to VISUALLY ASSESS conditions outside the aircraft in the event an emergency situation happens.
Example: an ENGINE may be on fire. You certainly wouldnt want to send passengers out that window exit or OPEN it for that matter. Sending SMOKE into the aircraft. First thing you want to do in an emergency is FEEL THE DOOR FOR HEAT and VISUALLY ASSESS conditions outside (just like the emerg. card shows up). Check for Fire, smoke, obstruction and water level.
Shades UP so you can quickly assess conditions.

By: Karen C.

Karen C. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:57:50 +0000

So what’s with the new (to me anyway) request to have window shades in the upright position when you are landing?

If it’s to have it so that “rescuers” could look in the window to see if there was someone there, as I assumed, I was a bit disconcerted as my row on a recent Delta flight had no window.

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:17:08 +0000

Flight attendants who would fight over a soda bottle likely have other motivations for making such a big deal of that. The courts use a standard of reason to determine the extent of a law, i.e. “What would a reasonable person consider too much? What would a reasonable person do instead in this situation in a different society?” The same should be applied here. A soda bottle is a reasonable thing to allow in a seat pocket. It is not so big that it impedes safety, and it is reasonable that many passengers onboard would be doing the same thing. It is not resonable to assume that a standard 20-oz bottle would create a big safety concern in the event of turbulence, as long as the bottle is securely held by the elastic on the netting. If it isn’t, then the flight attendant should be allowed to say something, because then the bottle could jar loose and roll down the aisle; that is a safety hazard.