The Washington Post put out a rather fun story entitled, “The 52 Definitive Rules Of Flying.” While I agree with many of the rules, I think WaPo gets two key rules totally wrong.
The “Definitive Rules Of Flying” Should Not Include Prohibitions On Seat Recline Or Using FA Call Button
The Post calls its new guide “a handbook for behaving like a civilized person, from airport arrival to landing.” Some rules I fully concur with, including:
- Dress comfortably, but not too comfortably.
- Leave the speakerphone gossip for home.
- No one wants to switch seats with you, so don’t ask.
- Take a hint if your neighbor doesn’t want to chat.
- Keep your limbs to yourself.
- The window seat controls the shade.
- No headphones, no sound.
- Don’t yell at crying babies.
But there are two “rules” I take great exception to. First, I disagree with the rule concerning reclining.
No reclining. No exceptions.
Okay, there are a few exceptions. You may recline on: redeye flights; if the seat behind you is empty, or inhabited by a small child; if you ask the person behind you and they don’t mind. But that’s it!
Nope. Sorry. You can recline on any flight you want. My only rule for reclining: do it very slowly or better yet, tell the person behind you before you do it so their laptop does not get smashed or their drink tipped over (both have happened to me).
Second, I disagree with the rule concerning the flight attendant call button.
The flight attendant button is not a vodka tonic button.
Consider it the 911 call of the sky — something to use in case of emergency, not in case of thirst to quench.
No thanks.
We just saw this week how vital a role flight attendants play when it comes to safety as seen in the evacuation of the Japan Airlines A350-900 in Tokyo.
But the idea of “walking and chewing gum at the same time” does not undermine the primary safety role of flight attendants. JetBlue sets the example here: it often instructs passengers to press the call button if they need something. It should not be taboo in the USA to press the call button for non-emergencies, especially when seats are wedged together to the extent that it is difficult for a passenger in the middle seat or window seat to get out.
CONCLUSION
I agree with most of the WaPo “rules” of flying, but I do insist that you have a right to recline your seats and it is not forbidden to use the flight attendnat call button for non-emergencies, like requesting a drink.
What do you think about seat reclining and the FA call button?
I especially like “The window seat controls the shade” : I have very much enjoyed the winter view over Greenland .
I have two additional rules : (a) “No carry-on bag larger than 12″ x 6″ x 3″ , and ladies get a handbag ; and one coat and hat … nothing more” . (b) No pushing to exit out of turn .
Unfortunately the flight attendants control the shades in the 787 most if the time.
Your other two rules are spot on.
@Baliken … Thank you .
I can get behind the recline rule. As a 6+ foot individual, I feel bad reclining into people as I know how that feels. Usually while boarding is happening I’ll ask the person seated behind me to wager how much I can recline without impeding their space too much. I’m not saying people shouldn’t recline but I don’t think that rule is all that controversial given the exceptions it speaks about are reasonable.
But…
That rule about the FA call button is totally ridiculous. I’m 99% sure they added it because they A) regurgitated Nelsonist propaganda (iykyk), or B) wanted to pad the word count.
Flight attendants have spoken out many times saying they’d rather someone in a window or middle ring the call button than disturb seat-mates. Plus, people going to get something from the galley all the time can crowd it, which makes the FA’s job more difficult. And it’s not like the FA has to respond to the button right away! They can respond when they are in position to, rather than have to respond to a galley visitor’s request right then and there. The only exception I can think of is if you’re seated in an aisle seat, then you might be a pain if you ring the call button time and time again.
Also if the call button is the plane’s “911,” then why will FAs often take several minutes to respond to a request? If that’s really what they’re designed for, then FA’s should be trained to respond to call buttons immediately. But they aren’t. If you’re having an emergency, a passenger can just go get them. They’re on the plane with you after all.
No, the call button exists for any request you may have for a flight attendant. That’s what they are paid for, after all.
@Kurt … I respectfully disagree about the call button . It is not what the FA is paid for . The airlines insist on overcrowding the cabin with too many seats . If there were half as many passengers , the call button would not be an issue . But with overcrowding , and over confinement , some passengers rely on the call button too frequently for basic issues , which would not exist save for the overcrowding . Solution is to reduce seat capacity .
You make a very fair point, but respectfully, I still disagree. I mean yes, planes are too crammed together, but how exactly is that the passenger’s fault?
If a passenger is ringing the call button multiple times throughout the flight, then that’s an issue. And people shouldn’t be ringing it during snack and meal services or if they’re in the aisle.
But if you’re in a window, and you ring it once to buy a sandwich, I really don’t see how it’s an issue. When I need something from the back, I’ll try to get up and get it myself, but there will be times where I just can’t, mainly due to the aforementioned seat cramming. Plus, half the time I go to get something from the galley, the flight attendant still har to get up to retrieve it from the compartment. I’ll only hear the cabin chime a few times throughout the flight, not like it’s every 2 minutes.
And I stress again, if the button truly is intended for emergencies only, then an FA should respond to it promptly every time, and should also announce to the passengers that that is the case. But they don’t. More often than that, they’ll take a little while to respond to the button, and sometimes encourage pax to use it.
I think Kurt makes the better point (indeed, I was about to argue the same thing).
@Matthew … I agree … Kurt’s point is well-taken .
@Kurt … Thank you .
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Not to mention the people who hit the call button while on takeoff roll. I think the best advice is, non-emergency but only when absolutely needed. Not for a sandwich.
Which is also why we need smartphone/seat back ordering. Come on, Virgin America figured that out over a decade ago!
See, it’s simple innovations like this that really should be commonplace but just aren’t. Pretty much all U.S. carriers have the technology for this, either via WiFi or Seatback, except for Frontier. It would save a lot of time for both the FA’s and the passengers. United loves to talk about how “technological” they are, and Delta won’t shut up about Delta Sync, so I see no reason why they can’t implement at-seat ordering. It would fix the issue of call-button abuse.
Your two rules apply differently depending on whether you are on a USA domestic airline (e.g. UA or AA) or on an Asian international airline (e.g. CX, SIA, JAL, almost any reputable Asian carrier). True for the former. But not necessarily for the latter. On Asian carriers stated, legroom is less of issue. And certainly service expectations are completely different. This based on flying international flights in Asia while based in Hong Kong for almost 14yrs.
>It is not what the FA is paid for
It literally is. They’re just waitresses with zero schooling. Most of them fat and lazy, too. We need to remind them they’re here at our behest, and they had better go fetch us exactly the drink we want.
They are useless humans. This is literally the only job they can have.
I was wondering where you’ve been hiding Trolletta
The recline rule should be ‘your right to recline ends where my knees begin’ and also ‘if you recline without warning and break it or spill it, you bought it’
No on the first, but yes on the second. If someone needs more room, buy a bigger seat or fly Southwest.
“ A) regurgitated Nelsonist propaganda (iykyk)”
Sara does LOVE to hang out in the WaPo building to ensure her members wait longer for raises while getting no extra money in return. She must’ve had lunch with a journalist from there (WaPo and NMB share a building last I checked)
I’m with WaPo on recline but only in economy. I’m 6’4 which obviously influences my perspective but I practice what I preach as not to be a hypocrite.
@Matthew – You’re viewing this all wrong. The paper didn’t botch the rules of flying; By your own count they got them almost all correct.
“I agree with 96% of the Washington Post’s rules for flying” doesn’t have the same clickbaity ring to it.
Not all rules are equal in importance. Those two rules are critical and I think WaPo got them totally wrong.
“13. It’s not doggy day care”. Adding 13.b. Wash your dog ahead of travel. No one wants doggy stink.
The airlines should allow tall people a free economy plus ticket if they are over a certain height. I am 5 feet 8 so it wouldn’t apply to me. Only 4 percent of male Americans are 6 feet 2 or taller. Tall people could register with an airline as a known tall person so they would get a code to enter when making reservations. These people would have to be measured at the airport by the airline.
Maybe the airlines could leave 4 or 5 economy plus seats for them. There would be no guarantee to get these seats but a possibilty to get them. So many of the Econ plus seats are just taken up by status people who don’t pay for them from what I understand. That is another way how status makes flying worse for most people.
Status really is an anti-competitive measure for the airlines.
Does anyone still read that far left propaganda rag?
Venting your political views to a bunch of strangers on a travel blog regarding a non-political topic? *YAWN* So lazy and juvenile.
I still see no way to subscribe to this blog.
Disagree with 3 of WaPo’s rules
13: don’t bring dogs period. Drive if you need to bring your “emotional support dog.”
41: Euro airlines turn the seatbelt sign off like 5 mins after takeoff and things are fine there. No reason the seatbelt sign should take a half hour to go off after take off
47: deplaning goes faster when people get their bags ahead of time rather than some ludicrous take your turn mumbo jumbo. Stand up and get your bag down but don’t try to push forward.
WaPo is actually right about reclining and to a lesser extent the call button.
I actually agree with them on reclining. I’m somewhat “a passenger of size” (yeah, I’m fat ). I’m not big enough to warrant an extender or to spill into my seatmate’s seat, but I’m still a large person. I’ve had numerous flights when I have been bruised by the tray table – if I have it down and the person in front of me reclines with no warning, it goes straight into my chest. Once I had my extremely hot tea spilled all over me because of this as a bonus. On one redeye flight the passenger in front of me reclined and fell asleep as soon as the light went off, the FA said she couldn’t wake them up, so I ended up not being able to eat because I couldn’t put my tray table down. But most importantly, for me it’s a safety issue. If the person behind you is like me, or super tall, or disabled in any way, when your seat is reclined it’s almost impossible for us to get out. I realized that during one similar incident, again on a redeye – I had to go to the bathroom, couldn’t get out and had to physically push myself out, so I did press against their seat and woke them up in the process. She was so aggravated and mad at me that she started yelling, apparently she was trying hard to fall asleep and just managed, when I “rudely” woke her up. I apologized and said I had to go use the bathroom but refused to engage further, from what I saw she pressed the FA button but no idea what happened afterwards, I proceeded to go to the bathroom, there was a line , and when I got back the passenger was not paying any further attention to me and there wasn’t a FA there. But I spent the remainder of that flight thinking “what if there is an emergency” and considering how hard was it for me to get out of my seat. So at the very least, when you recline, take a look at the person behind you. If a recline would cause them a significant discomfort because of size, height, disability, age – please be a considerate human and don’t do it.
On the topic of animals – please, please, please don’t ever get your pet out of the carrier and allow them on the seats. Another problem I have is that I’m allergic to most cat/dog dander and I know that I’m not alone. I firmly believe that’s my problem to deal with and I do – I take a handful of pills prior to every flight, I always have an epi pen handy and I make sure to ask at the gate if there are any animals on the flight and whether it’s possible to move my seat away from them on account of being allergic. Unfortunately, one thing that I cannot predict is if a prior flight carried an animal that was left to roam the seats / cabin. When they’re out and about, their dander, saliva, hairs (the 3 most common allergens) can stick to the seats / surfaces. I now carry an extra blanket to cover my seat, I fly premium cabins overseas (where on some carriers pets are not allowed), but in a perfect world people would keep their pets in the carriers, where the allergens are a lot more isolated, or at least carry an extra blanket (especially if the dog is on duty in which case of course they won’t be in a carrier) to cover the surfaces that it will be using. There are no accommodations for people like myself , yes we can inquire about pets when booking but there is no guarantee that there will not be a pet next to us booked afterwards, not to mention that airline staff have no responsibility to advise if there is an ADA animal on the flight (this annoyingly, also applies to hotels – I can request a pet free room and they can tell me a room is pet free when in reality a service animal could have spent the past X days in that very same room). It’s annoying because I am not asking for the handler to be bothered in any way, I’m only asking (and fully willing to change my own plans) if I can be moved someplace else. But it is what it is.
Another point: “window seat controls the shade” – yes! I’m a window seat – always – myself, so I enjoy that benefit, but I feel that we have to be considerate too. Yes, I can decide if I want it up or down, but if we’re on a redeye and I decide to let the sunshine in the whole time, it’s an AH move. People are trying to adjust their internal clocks, trying to sleep, watch media on screens, so while yes, I have all the power, my fellow window seat flyers, let’s be considerate of other people too and keep the shade down while the rest of the cabin sleeps.
I fully echo the notion that we have to be supportive of kids and babies flying, and their parents, no argument there. And if you can help the parent in any way please do, not only it’s the decent thing to do, but chances are that both yourself and your fellow passengers will have a better flight because of it. Never, ever yell at kids or their parents – literally nothing good can come out of it. But I also ask parents, especially the ones of kids that are of age to understand, that a flight is a great opportunity to teach good manners. Another one of my flying experiences: I was in a window seat with two young girls next to me (one was maybe 8-9, the other one a year or two older than her). Their dad was seating at the seat across the aisle. While boarding I saw the writing on the wall and went to the dad and I offered to switch my window seat for his aisle so that they can be all seated together. Lo and behold he refused and then as soon as the flight took off … he fell asleep. I give him the benefit of the doubt, it was a short flight and he probably needed this rest more than anything, but his daughters were two of the most unruly creatures on the planet. They were loud, watched youtube on speaker, made a complete mess , spilling games, snacks , crayons all over, drawing on the back of the seat (with crayons so at least it was not a permanent damage), the FA had to keep coming to help them with the belts or stuff they dropped, the younger one started crying and yelling because of something her sister did, and then started kicking the seat in front of her for the remainder of the flight, and I was at a complete loss what to do. I tried to be nice and engage them some, but I’m extremely uncomfortable engaging with kids this young without the parents consent or presence, and I would never even attempt to explain right / wrong or dos/donts /inside voice/manners without the parent there. Not to mention that if there was an emergency it would’ve been on me to help them, which of course I will, but I don’t feel that I should be “stuck” with this responsibility. What if I was a psychopath? So yes, flying with kids is hard, but a flight is not a time and place to let your “kids be kids”, and everyone appreciates it when you are acting as a responsible parent and making sure they behave as much as possible (yes, I fully understand that it’s not always possible, I’m only asking you to try).
And most importantly – my biggest pet peeve when flying is not mentioned in the article. If you need to let someone into the row PLEASE STAND UP AND MOVE to let them go through. I cannot believe how many people don’t see this as a common courtesy. No, sir, I will not just jump over you, and I have no desire to rub my nether regions in your face. This is especially important if any one of the parties involved are kids or are of the opposite gender.
And I just want to mention that I’m a frequent flyer – because the number of horror stories I’m sharing makes it sound like I’m either the neediest or the most unlucky passenger on earth – no, I just fly a lot, in reality most of those things don’t happen on every flight.