Op-ed: Airlines Must Take the Seatbelt Sign More Seriously

[Quickstatus]

The no exception includes bassinet infants.

 

[flydoc]

The poster was referring to QF policy - it is on for all and there are zero exceptions for crew at QF. Sign on is seatbelt on.

Observed on recent flights operated by Alliance on behalf of Qantas(link) that a chime during the post-departure climb has released the cabin crew from their seats while the seatbelt sign has remained on for a further few minutes for pax.

 

[JohnK]

I cannot understand how anyone in their seats would not have seatbelt on. Perceived comfort? Stupidity! Understandable if walking around or going to toilet.

 

[Himeno]

I cannot understand how anyone in their seats would not have seatbelt on. Perceived comfort? Stupidity! Understandable if walking around or going to toilet.

It's the same people not wearing seatbelts who are now blaming Boeing for what happened yesterday.

 

[Berlin]

Observed on recent flights operated by Alliance on behalf of Qantas(link) that a chime during the post-departure climb has released the cabin crew from their seats while the seatbelt sign has remained on for a further few minutes for pax.

Isn’t that pretty standard after takeoff? Crew gets a call or chime to start their procedures while passengers have to wait in their seats a bit longer? I seem to remember the same from many an international flight with various airlines.

 

[jb747]

Observed on recent flights operated by Alliance on behalf of Qantas(link) that a chime during the post-departure climb has released the cabin crew from their seats while the seatbelt sign has remained on for a further few minutes for pax.

Which means that Alliance, like all of the other subsidies and partners, simply does things their own way, and irrespective of the marketing spin, they are not their parent.

 

[jb747]

Ah, so it’s the airlines‘ fault. Given that some passengers never do the belt up, and go to some trouble to hide the fact that they haven’t, aren’t we at the wrong end of the animal. If you leave your belt done up for the entire trip, only loosely, you will never kiss the ceiling. Nor will you crash down on to one of your neighbours. Whether the sign is on, or off, will make no difference to the outcome, as long as people continue to see it being turned off as an instruction, whilst being on is just a recommendation.

 

[GrahamBRI]

If you leave your belt done up for the entire trip, only loosely, you will never kiss the ceiling. Nor will you crash down on to one of your neighbours. Whether the sign is on, or off, will make no difference to the outcome, as long as people continue to see it being turned off as an instruction, whilst being on is just a recommendation.

100% agree. If in your seat, put your seatbelt on, no other instruction is needed around this. The only additional piece of information needed is when the crew instruct you to return to your seats….. then the default rule once again applies, put your seatbelt on. If we do anything with the illuminated light, change it to return to your seat now!

 

[SeatBackForward]

Maybe a little light above the seat that turns on when the seatbelt is not used (like the dashboard symbol in motor vehicles). Then even the crew will know who the problem children are. Mind you, you could just click it in and then sit on top it also.

 

[CaptJCool]

well, in this day and age of sheeting home the blame to anyone but oneself, it must be the Guv't fault - after all, they're the ones who "register" the aircraft - the rule-breaker will always find an excuse for why they weren't wearing a seatbelt on a plane or in a car.

but of course physics is wrong to these defiant folk - they know best and don't see the point of buckling up - after all, it'll "never happen (to me)" I couldn't possibly be a "crash test dummy"!

what these incidents and episodes do is to enaable a community conversation and re-inforce good seatbelting habits as the direct consequences of not wearing a seatbelt (and the effect of dragging a 2g force) become obvious to all

 

[Berlin]

I just realised that I should clarify something: When I complain that certain airlines in certain countries tend to leave the seatbelt sign on for way too long, I’m not advocating we should all unbuckle as soon as the sign is off. I’m only about the inevitable need to use the loo here.

If in your seat, use your goddam_ seat belt, no matter what. I would have thought this to be a given but I was obviously naive in thinking so. Why anyone would risk not putting on their seatbelt while sitting (same in a car!) is an absolute riddle to me.

 

[RooFlyer]

Why anyone would risk not putting on their seatbelt while sitting (same in a car!) is an absolute riddle to me.

Perhaps the same why some people (most!) pointedly ignore the safety briefing, with nose in phones or chatting to seatmate. They are simply too cool or important to be told what to do.

 

[Berlin]

Perhaps the same why some people (most!) pointedly ignore the safety briefing, with nose in phones or chatting to seatmate. They are simply too cool or important to be told what to do.

I always on purpose stop whatever oh so important I am doing and pay attention even though I’ve heard it soooo many times before. It’s just common decency towards the crew imho. Plus I always loved watching the in person demonstration, especially the emergency exit part

 

[dajop]

If in your seat, use your goddam_ seat belt, no matter what. I would have thought this to be a given but I was obviously naive in thinking so. Why anyone would risk not putting on their seatbelt while sitting (same in a car!) is an absolute riddle to me.

“You’ve got this all wrong. It’s my goddam right to do what I please. Seatbelts are just another way of governments to control us and I’m not going to allow them to do that. “

These are the sorts of comments you see on the comments in YouTube and twitbook when seatbelts are discussed.

There are a big number of physicsally challenged people out there.

 

[Ansett]

On recent trips on AA, I was disturbed at several things.

1) Window Shades were not open during take-off and landing.
2) Seat Belt sign was left on right up till cruise height
3) Cabin crew and Passengers wandering and congregating in several areas with the seat belt sign.

I asked the CSM why people were allowed to move around and congregate with the seat belt sign on, he just looked at me shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

I always have the seat belt on at all times when not moving around the cabin.

 

[harvyk]

I certainly like the way QF treat the sign, on only when it appears to be needed. I've also seen other airlines which seem to keep the sign on virtually full stop.

I've also got many anecdotes of pax behaving badly, and FA's being immune from turbulence, and whilst I was typing up a couple of them, a thought came to mind.

Something that they could consider, link the seatlbelt to the AVOD screen. The movie will only play if the seatbelt is clipped in. Sure it doesn't stop pax from clipping in the seatbelt and sitting on top of it, but hey it would be really convenient as a pax that if you do need to get up, the movie will stop playing automatically. Plus it'll act as a little reminder without the FA needing to police the cabin.

 

[Berlin]

On recent trips on AA, I was disturbed at several things.

1) Window Shades were not open during take-off and landing.
2) Seat Belt sign was left on right up till cruise height
3) Cabin crew and Passengers wandering and congregating in several areas with the seat belt sign.

Yep, typical AA, I’ve noticed this about the window shades too (there are others like this as well- LATAM quite often also doesn’t care about this). And seat belt sign on many AA flights just stays on during the entire flight, full stop.

 

[AFF Editor]

Looks like Singapore Airlines has already made some changes to its internal policies following this event. The cabin crew are now required to sit down and fasten their seatbelts whenever the seatbelt sign is on. This was not the case before - they would merely stop serving hot drinks.

Singapore Airlines modifies cabin service routines following turbulence incident - The MileLion

Singapore Airlines has introduced new cabin service SOPs following the turbluence incident on SQ321. Here's what to expect.

milelion.com

Ah, so it’s the airlines‘ fault. Given that some passengers never do the belt up, and go to some trouble to hide the fact that they haven’t, aren’t we at the wrong end of the animal. If you leave your belt done up for the entire trip, only loosely, you will never kiss the ceiling. Nor will you crash down on to one of your neighbours. Whether the sign is on, or off, will make no difference to the outcome, as long as people continue to see it being turned off as an instruction, whilst being on is just a recommendation.

My point is that it's a shared responsibility. Absolutely, passengers should have their seatbelts fastened while seated and if they don't that's on them. But when airlines keep the seatbelt sign on unnecessarily for an entire long-haul flight, the seatbelt sign loses its meaning and people will just get up anyway at some point.

Having cabin crew walking around while the seatbelt sign is on - which happens an awful lot on airlines not based in Australia - also sets a poor example of what the seatbelt sign is supposed to signify.

FWIW, I think Qantas pilots use the seatbelt sign well.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Ignoring safety & seat belt requirements is usually the trait of people who yell "You can't tell me what to do!" , who then seem to so easily be misled by certain type of news outlets and social media platforms..

 

[PumaPilot]

I know one airline that get the cabin crew to call the flight deck to get the seatbelt sign turned on if passengers crowd the galley and star becoming annoying to the cabin crew