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Flight Attendants Want Stricter Gadget Rules Reinstated
stephendavion writes You might be super happy to toil away on your phone or tablet the entire time you're on a plane, but not everyone is pleased to see your face buried in your device during takeoff and landing. The Federal Aviation Administration's new, more relaxed rules on gadget use aren't sitting well with one group — flight attendants. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the nation's largest flight attendant union is now suing the FAA to have the ban on gadget use during takeoff and landing reinstated. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA argues that the change has caused many passengers to ignore flight attendants' emergency announcements, and that the new rules violate federal regulations requiring passengers to stow all items during takeoff and landing.
People don't listen to that preflight announcement stuff because they've heard it a hundred times before. People who've flown even a couple of times before don't need to listen. People who are on their first flight, where it's all new and exciting are paying attention.
So, no - I know how to wear a seatbelt and that my seat cushion can be used as a floatation device and to check where the nearest exit row is...yadda yadda yadda. I can stick my nose into my phone and I won't miss anything important.
What's needed is either to make those instructions INTERESTING (like the Southwest Airlines people often do) - or to only give the routine instructions to people who need it. That way, when something truly important comes up, people will pay attention.
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they are just a bit lonely...
...because we've seen their act too many times, and pretty much everything except the location of the doors is common sense in the first place.
Anyone who can't figure that stuff out is probably traveling with an adult to handle the actual decisions.
Virgin Airlines has a video instead of flight attendants do the safety spiel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtyfiPIHsIg
Time for other airlines to get with the times.
Typical of Air Canada, if you're not listening, they become surly... So they want you to listen. But you have to listen twice, both in english and in french... God help you if you should tune out while they're going through the whole spiel in a language you don't understand...
Westjet has a video for the french half and could seemingly care less if you're paying attention. The english half is occasionally made interesting with the injection of humor...
I am sure there will be at least one idiot who instead of running will try to post cool picture of flaming aircraft to facebook.
Thanks God we have flight attendants taking care of our self...
What if the passenger doesn't care about it's OWN safety? Let him ignore the safety instructions, it's his own decision! FAA and/or the flight attendants are not our mothers..
Why were books, magazines and newspapers never banned before? They're just as much of a distraction (at least, they used to be until smartphones took over). Heck, they give away magazines in every seat pocket.
I flew recently, and the crew was saying how much they loved not having to fight everybody to turn off their devices.
Southwest might be a bit friendlier than most others, though.
"In case of fire, exit plane BEFORE tweeting about it."
Seriously - bring a package of cookies for the flight crew. The flight attendants will leave you alone except to check on you, and will probably sneak you a non-alcoholic treat at some point during the flight. And it's not a job that's appreciated terribly much - look at the comments in this thread, just for starters - so it goes a long way.
"...the nation's largest flight attendant union is now suing the FAA to have the ban on gadget use during takeoff and landing reinstated."
An excellent example of how unions supplant an eagerness of workers to meet customers wants and needs with an attitude of wanton truculence.
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There have already been a couple of instances of children being injured in car accidents --- what will be the rate of injury in an airliner crash?
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We were ignoring seat belt puppet show long before the FAA loosened restrictions on gadgets. Besides, if there ever actually was an accident, the chances of needing any of that safety equipment is pretty negligible. I don't think the little oxygen mask is going to be any match for blunt force trauma. At normal airliner speeds, the little mask would be wearing you for protection.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA argues that the change has caused many passengers to ignore flight attendants' emergency announcements, and that the new rules violate federal regulations requiring passengers to stow all items during takeoff and landing.
So many problems with this:
1) It's cute how they think people were paying attention before. The little song and dance number they do before every flight is a bureaucrat's dumb idea. Air travel is almost absurdly safe and the talk is a good approximation of useless. It's purely so that if the airline gets sued they have a defense and that isn't my problem.
2) There has never been a requirement that "all items" be stowed during takeoff and landing or if there actually was such a regulation it was never enforced before so it's unclear why it is now necessary. I've never been asked to put away a magazine or any number of other loose items during takeoff or landing.
3) Reading or playing with my tablet keeps what is already an uncomfortable and annoying experience within the bounds of tolerable. If they want to give me more leg room and a better seat then we can talk about when to allow my choice of entertainment.
If they were serious about everyone performing in an emergency, they'd ban the $6 alcoholic drinks and screen everyone for benzodiazepines or GABAergic drugs before they stepped on to the plane. Ask yourself (i) whether you'd want to live in a world where you couldn't knock yourself out on a 15-hour flight, and (ii) whether the extremely rare chance of being in an evacuation is worth that level of imposition on basic developer-society human rights (access to physical/mental health care, and the freedom to consume the food/plants of your choice)... and then we'll be in the right area of discussion.
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I noticed that a lot of people are posting the fact that the FAs just want to keep their jobs or that they should stick to their primary job of serving drinks. I worked for an airline (in IT, not flight crew) and flew a lot, so I've talked to a bunch of FAs. Yes, they do appear to be serving drinks, but FAs are indeed there to keep order and for passenger safety. That role is just hidden until an emergency occurs. Sure, some of this might be a union thing, but the reality is that airlines are way beyond stingy and would have dropped FAs by now if they didn't provide the additional service of flight safety officers.
An example of this can be seen in a crash that happened in Toronto a few years back. After a normal landing. the plane ran off the runway and crashed into a ditch, starting a fire. Every passenger escaped within 2 minutes...before the plane was completely engulfed. The reports from the passengers credited the FAs for basically shoveling everyone out of the plane as quickly as possible.
So yes, they may appear to have an easy job and the profession seems to attract the young, unattached drifter type, but they're probably going to be the ones helping people in a crash or emergency while half the passengers are running around in circles screaming how they're going to die or livetweeting the accident.
My flying background must be showing. I always review the safety information card, confirm safety equipment in my vicinity, and, yes, I actually do pay attention to the safety briefing.
But that's just me.
...laura
One basis for the lawsuit is that the FAA did not follow the rules for changing its guidelines, because, for example, there was no public comment period before the change was made. Saying that the "new rules violate federal regulations requiring passengers to stow all items during takeoff and landing" is non-sensical because the new rules are federal regulations.
Note that this was a change in the rules for what the airlines can allow, not what the public can carry on and use on the airline. It does not give you the right to play Angry Birds during taxi; it allows the airline to verify you playing Angry Birds will not interfere with the operation of the aircraft and, if it doesn't, allow you to play Angry Birds during takeoff and landing.
Here is the FAA notice on expanded electronics use in case you want to read more about how the change was made and what the change was.
"During Pan Am’s heyday in the 1960s, there were strict requirements for stewardesses: They had to be at least 5-foot-2, weigh no more than 130 pounds, and retire by age 32. They couldn’t be married or have children, either. As a result, most women averaged just 18 months on the job."
No? Don't want to do that?
"In case of fire, exit plane BEFORE tweeting about it."
That's terrible advice. Those are exactly the people we want staying on the plane!
Some years back I had the pleasure of flying Qantas, the Australian airline. Since we left from LAX, we were subjected to the American routine anyhow. Despite already being a seasoned traveler, I clearly remember elements of the brief - because it was entertaining, not formulaic, and loaded with real useful information. For example, even though I am an aerospace engineer with Aviation Physiology training in a high altitude chamber for government test flights, this tidbit was news to me:
If you see those silly yellow masks fall down in front of your face, you may be tempted to help little Johnny put on his mask first. Here's the problem: we're cruising at 35,000 feet today. If the plane loses cabin pressure, you'll have about 12 seconds of useful consciousness left. Now how useful do you think you'll be to little Johnny if he's sitting there with his mask on and mom and dad are both unconscious? So do us all a favor. Be selfish. Put your own mask on first. Then you'll have plenty of oxygen to help the people around you wake up again from their little unexpected nap, just in time to enjoy the rest of the emergency.
Wow. I never knew that. I've NEVER forgotten it. Oh, and thanks, I don't need to hear it five or six times a year again to remember it either... so that's why I'm not paying strict attention...
--Brandon / Split Infinity Music