Nexus 617

Hi folks,
Last minute urgent question as we are traveling for a funeral -- Travelling with 2 kids, one in a forward-facing carseat and one in a rear-facing carseat. Both seats are FAA approved and have had many successful domestic flights but I've never flown with kids in intl business class before.
HOWEVER, the only cabin with 4 seats available on the flight we booked was in D1 on a 777 (the middle seats in the last 2 rows of C). The telephone res agent we spoke with repeatedly assured us that having the kids in their carseats in D1 was allowed for the duration of the flight - takeoff, cruise, and landing. Only CARES harnesses were not allowed. But the DL website says no carseats in D1?
Multiple emails & tweets to Delta have gone unanswered.
What to do? Safety of my kids is my #1 priority, and we just paid over $8k for the seats.
Can we physically use the carseats? Will the FAs allow it? Can we insist on a downgrade to Comfort+ and receive compensation?
Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions are welcome!
Thank you!!

orlandodlplat

I've flown with a carseat on the 76E and 75S flat seats, not the 777. But I think the basic issue is the airbag seatbelts (which I'm not positive the 777 has). Some FAs will insist they cannot be used with a car seat, but the truth is that they can, provided the FA provides a "universal seat belt extender" (the type they provide for pax of size), which disables the airbag when it's latched in. There's even a label on the underside of the seatbelt that addresses this issue explicitly.

Good luck!

jrkmsp

As far as I know, carseats won't work in any of the current Delta One seats, in part because of the way the seatbelts are designed with air bags. Here's a link to where it states this explicitly on Delta.com.

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_.../children.html

Go down to the Infant and Child seating section. I'd say at the least Delta would owe you a refund of the difference to move to C+. Also, I suspect there are blocked seats they should be able to move you into.

BUt call now. You'll have more options sooner than later.

Nexus 617

Thanks orlandodlplat & jrkmsp. I've been trying to reach DL by phone (outside the US) but they're not answering & not replying to voicemails. There's basically no one to talk to until the check in desk at the airport.

I really hope they don't end up rerouting us via Europe -- it would mean another 5 hours at the airport and the lounge is closed overnight.

orlandodlplat

How old are your kids? You should have CARES harnesses with you as well, just in case the crew allows them. The issue with those is whether they fit around the back of the seat. I believe the restrictions are in place because the expectation is that they fit around the shell of the seat, but that misunderstands the design of the harness, which is that it fit around the just the seat back itself. I know it works on the 767/757 flat seats.

Nexus 617

Thanks, that's a good idea. They're 1 & 2 yrs old, so unfortunately too young for CARES. I actually already bought one CARES harness for when the older one is able to use it, but he's still too small.

orlandodlplat

Wrong.

See my above response re: the airbag seatbelts. They DO in fact work, provided you use a universal extender adapter that all crews are required to fly with for passengers of size.

davisew

The website says one thing, the phone agent something else, and the placard on the seat airbags themselves are different than either.

In spite of all this, the only thing that matters is the opinion of the FA on board that day as to what is and isn't acceptable. Not the answer you were looking for I know.

MSPeconomist

The 777 D1 seats DO have airbags in the seat belts. I'm trying to imagine how using an extender would disable the airbag, but I'll defer to those who know.

teCh0010

That's odd. Is there any way you can use a VoIP service like google hangouts to route a call to the US 1800 number that we know they will answer?

SEA-Flyer

I've never flown the 777, only the 767 and 330. The label on the bottom of the seat belt does mention that an extender disables it.

If I had to guess based on what I've observed, the buckle in D1 appears to have some sort of custom latch - some little black nub on it that sticks out. I believe that the airbag system needs to detect this nub (through magnetism or something I presume) to enable the airbag. When the seatbelt is buckled, this nub is in the right spot and the airbag is armed. But with an extender used, the nub woule be no where near the buckle and as a result the airbag would not arm.

MSPeconomist

I'm going to try to remember to inspect these things more carefully on my next trip.

ATLawyer

Basically this. Airbag needs to be latched to engage. Can you imagine 10 seats people aren't sitting in having their airbags go off, with their respective airbags in all different directions?

(query how useful an airbag is on impact...)

3Cforme

All U.S. carriers have to make car seat info available on web pages by DOT regulation. Included is minimum seat width by cabin. Car seats are prohibited in D1 on A330, 747, 767, and 777 aircraft. OP can google 'Delta air lines infant and child seating.' He shouldn't expect to use car seats no matter what they tell him by phone.

bstndance

From an FA friend:

Car seats can not be in Delta One on 777, 330, 747 with airbag seat belts.

However on seats with airbag seat belts on the 321, 767, 737 and 717 the seat belt extender deactivates the airbag.