Naim 6 Report post Posted September 8, 2009 First time I hear of this. Yes, it'd be a major irritant if enforced. === September 8, 2009 New Aerial Irritant: No Items in Seat Back By JOE SHARKEY IN mid-August, when I flew SkyWest Airlines from Denver to Tucson, a grouchy flight attendant announced before takeoff that “according to F.A.A. safety regulations” passengers could place nothing at all in the seat-back pockets. Not a newspaper, a book or a pair of reading glasses. And, as I noted in a recent column, she enforced it like a drill sergeant throughout the flight. I prudently waited until the plane had landed before asking her where she got the idea that the Federal Aviation Administration had banned all personal items from seat-back pockets. “I have a document!” she said, offering to produce it from the galley. With passengers lined up behind me impatiently waiting to disembark, I wisely declined the offer to examine it. But she did have such a document. SkyWest, a regional airline that operates as a subcontractor for United, Delta and Midwest, had obtained from its regional F.A.A. office express approval of its own in-flight operating manual, which prohibits passengers from putting anything into the seat-back pockets, citing safety concerns. Trust me when I say that I have run this down through the various bureaucracies and documents — new and old. SkyWest is correct. “Our F.A.A. office has been very clear with us that personal items are included in the regulation,” said Marissa Snow, a SkyWest spokeswoman. “The F.A.A. office that is responsible for SkyWest applied the guidance in their oversight of the SkyWest carry-on baggage program,” said Les Dorr Jr., a spokesman for the agency in Washington. SkyWest is not the only airline banning passengers from using the pockets for personal possessions. Several others are insisting that all personal objects must be stowed in overhead bins or under the seat, where they are often difficult to retrieve in a cramped coach cabin. Readers have been sending me e-mail messages by the dozen, saying that they have encountered the same bans, though usually randomly enforced, on some regional carriers. SkyWest, however, seems to be the most vigilant. No one I spoke with in the industry, other than SkyWest, asserted that the prohibition had anything to do with safety. Rather, airlines that are enforcing this seem to be doing it in the interest of swiftly cleaning the cabins so that airplanes can be quickly ready for the next flight. Personally, I choose not to fly on an airline that blocks me from ready access to a book, my reading glasses, or even my ham sandwich during a flight, so booking on SkyWest was not of my volition. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/business/08road.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2 Report post Posted September 8, 2009 What's the point? Why aren't personal items allowed to be placed in the seat pocket? Isn't that the purpose of the seat pocket? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
