OnslowSW7

I recently bought the new large iPad pro for travelling- my thinking being a bigger screen and my own content would be better for while I'm travelling. I'm loving the new iPad, but my question is this- has anyone else been told to stow it during take off and landing?

I've used it on 5 flights so far with no issues, but on the most recent flight tonight I was told it was too large to be deemed hand held and therefore I'd need to put it in the pocket with the magazines during takeoff. Normally I might be tempted to argue the point, but tonight's CSD was an old school lady who's tone was quite clear that I wouldn't win any argument with her ;-)

Anyone else faced a similar challenge?

Calum

I think the Ipad Pro too big/weighty to be considered safe for T/O and Landing.

It's screen is pretty much the same size as a Macbook Pro after all.

Foltan

Just get it out again once they've sat down. They can't just make up their own rules as they feel like it. It's quite literally a handheld electronic device so you should be allowed to use it.

corporate-wage-slave

Well the way it seems to work is tablets, e-readers, phones = OK to be used throughout the flight. Laptops / "larger devices" = not OK and should be stowed for take off and landing. I can see this is a larger tablet, and there are some shades of grey here, so I'd just go along with their interpretation and accept the judgement call will vary between different humans. It's only for a few minutes.

If we want to be terribly old fashioned and use common sense, the question you have to ask yourself is that if there was a really bumpy landing and the device slipped out of your hand, what would the implications be if it flew through the cabin and hit someone. In the case of a mobile phone that would probably be (a) unlikely to happen given they are easy to grip and (b) unlikely to be anything more than irritating / minor bruising if you got hit by one. Whereas a large tablet?

Wayland

I've had similar experience with a smaller 10.5" Samsung tablet. Normally fine, but on one occasion was asked to stow it away. Right or wrong, I didn't want to get into an argument with the CC over 15 mins of tablet time so just complied.

Worcester

Which is quite correct at take off an A320 has a speed of 170mph, and ipad pro is 3/4s of the weight of a bag of sugar, imaging being hit in the head at even a quarter of that speed.

Foltan

And what exactly would the plane have hit during take-off for that to happen? I don't understand the scaremongering panic around plane travel. Sometimes you have to be realistic and accept that BA planes almost never crash and so making everyone tuck away their iPads and look at the ceiling afraid on every single one of the thousands of take-offs and landing every day is just ridiculously over the top.

I don't think anyone would ever question the use of a laptop on a UK train, but there's been a lot more crashes and derailments of those than there have been BA aircraft hit the ground.

mentor of monty

BA Planes do quite often hit unexpected big turbulence during takeoff and landing. It's not about crashing- that totally misses the point. You have far bigger problems than a flying iPad during a crash scenario. The rules are designed for the 99.99% of the time when the plane doesn't crash. On a train, laptops sit on a table, and that's a totally spurious comparison.

sebastiansw3

I've not had any problems with using my iPad Pro on CX - however I was told to stow it completely by UA and AA. Again, I think whether it is permitted or not is a subjective thing and probably the easiest thing to do is simply comply with cabin crew provided they ask nicely.

fransknorge

You are missing the point of this rule. This is not about crashing but there are several events possible during take-off and landing that can make a laptop or iPad fly around in the cabin:
- severe unexpected turbulence (can happen anytime, never been caught in the wake of the preceding aircraft ?)
- Refused take-off: braking action is hard, loose items will go flying. Those happens from time to time
- Go-around

This is not scaremongering, just common sense to apply for 15 minutes in the possibility that some of the events above happen (and they do happen, much more often than crashing) to avoid injuries.

Nuster

If there is one thing that annoys me during air travel is the made up rule hiding behind a mask of security and/or safety. The iPad Pro is the same weight as the iPad 1 so it's not weight that's the problem. And if it's size then it must be quite easy to stipulate an acceptable size rather than a particular cabin crew making it up.

If there was an incident an iPad Air potentially with no case is acceptable to be flying around in the cabin but the iPad Pro potentially with a leather cover is unacceptable?

simons1

Whatever the crew ask, you will always get a passenger who thinks they know better.....

DrBernardo

I've had more severe forces exerted on me on an intercity train than during a refused take-off or a go-around, and severe turbulence (with the vertical component of force that is missing on a train, say) can happen at any time, not just take-off and landing.

I think the point is that air travel, because it has historically been perceived as risky, has all sorts of safety rules mandated. If we all had our time again, it would probably make sense to enforce the same regimes on other forms of public transport, and indeed egregious adverse events have eg resulted in mandatory seatbelts for coach travel in the UK. In an ideal world, it would probably make sense for there to be seatbelts fitted on trains too, but it's unenforceable and the train operators would all protest (I once had a journey from Euston to Liverpool Lime Street that was so lurching throughout that I literally could not read the book I was holding in my hand because it was moving so much - that was a trip where stowing loose objects and not serving hot drinks would have been a good idea!).

So I think it's more honest to say that what you experience on a plane, whilst harsh and not 100% necessary, represents optimal good practice, which could/should be followed elsewhere but isn't for historic or practical reasons.

But where I agree with Foltan is that is isn't honest to say that being on an aircraft is so totally different from any other form of public transport that these special rules have to apply there because of imminent danger which is absent elsewhere. So we should say that it's better to stow a heavy laptop or tablet on a plane just because it's safer to do so, rather than pretending that that it's because there are unique forces and circumstances onboard which you wouldn't face elsewhere... To do otherwise does, I think, perpetuate the myth of how dangerous flying is, which is why it scares so many people in the first place...

OverTheHorizon

@Nuster On the whole, I'm completely with you on "made-up" rules: they absolutely infuriate me

In this case however, I don't really think the crew member was "hiding behind safety/security"; rather, she saw a large(ish) object and didn't have the time/means to weigh it. So she mentally classified it in the "laptop = too heavy" category and instructed OP to stow it.

Land-of-Miles

I guess I would take a cue from what the crew do with their more elderly older generation iPads. If they stow for takeoff and landing it would be reasonable to do that with a similarly weighty iPad pro. If not and they are sitting by the emergency exits then it is probably ok for you in your seat