Exit Row Reading
#1
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Exit Row Reading
I hope this question hasn't been answered elsewhere - I have tried to check...
I always try to fly in an exit aisle seat - probably 95% of KL flights, because I'm happy to pay when I book.
KLM cabin crew are very active in briefing pax about the exit row - which is a Good Thing. However... they are sometimes, IMHO, over-zealous in telling the exit row pax that they must put away their books/newspapers for take-off and landing. We all have to just sit there. It happens on roughly 1 in 10 flights, I would guess.
Is this KLM SOP? If it is, why is it (relatively) rare? If it's not SOP - and I assume it isn't - why do they do this?
Input appreciated, thanks.
I always try to fly in an exit aisle seat - probably 95% of KL flights, because I'm happy to pay when I book.
KLM cabin crew are very active in briefing pax about the exit row - which is a Good Thing. However... they are sometimes, IMHO, over-zealous in telling the exit row pax that they must put away their books/newspapers for take-off and landing. We all have to just sit there. It happens on roughly 1 in 10 flights, I would guess.
Is this KLM SOP? If it is, why is it (relatively) rare? If it's not SOP - and I assume it isn't - why do they do this?
Input appreciated, thanks.
#2
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In the event that an evacuation is needed, many tens of people will need to pass through your seat area in a very short time.
If any loose, discarded items are in this area - even something as innocuous as a slim paperback novel (very, very slippy when left on a carpeted floor!) or a broadsheet newspaper (that can fly up, separate into its various sheets, and trip people and/or obscure sightlines) - then the rate of egress is severely degraded, and vital seconds lost.
If any loose, discarded items are in this area - even something as innocuous as a slim paperback novel (very, very slippy when left on a carpeted floor!) or a broadsheet newspaper (that can fly up, separate into its various sheets, and trip people and/or obscure sightlines) - then the rate of egress is severely degraded, and vital seconds lost.
#4
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#5
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Very few KL crew make this rule up, I have verified it, I have had this before and I'm pretty sure I even posted about it on FT.
You state it like its a rule, but its not, otherwise the Dutch CAA would make it so as would any other CAA worth its salt.
From this we can say that other airline crew that don't have this rule are unsafe no?
You state it like its a rule, but its not, otherwise the Dutch CAA would make it so as would any other CAA worth its salt.
From this we can say that other airline crew that don't have this rule are unsafe no?
#6
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 7,560
I can't believe I'm reading this. Is it really such a big deal having to put away one's book for a few minutes? Personally I think it's a very sensible rule, whether mandated by the authorities or not.
What I'm a lot more concerned about (going off the original topic, sorry...) are the many times I see emergency exit rows that are completely empty because no one is prepared to pay for them on a short flight.
What I'm a lot more concerned about (going off the original topic, sorry...) are the many times I see emergency exit rows that are completely empty because no one is prepared to pay for them on a short flight.
#7
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I understand the logic and don't have a particular problem with putting my book down, just wonder why some cabin crew (appear to) create their own rules...
If this was something important for safety, then surely it would be mandatory everywhere (or at least somewhere).
I agree, by the way, with the post suggesting exit rows should not be left empty, although I can't think of a flight that wasn't so full that the exit rows were at least "manned" at the window and exit, if not the middle seat.
Slight off topic (but hey, it's my topic ), I was on the evening flight from AMS to GLA last week and another pax was moved to the exit row just before we took off. He had to be sent back to his original seat and replaced during the flight when the crew realised how drunk he was...
If this was something important for safety, then surely it would be mandatory everywhere (or at least somewhere).
I agree, by the way, with the post suggesting exit rows should not be left empty, although I can't think of a flight that wasn't so full that the exit rows were at least "manned" at the window and exit, if not the middle seat.
Slight off topic (but hey, it's my topic ), I was on the evening flight from AMS to GLA last week and another pax was moved to the exit row just before we took off. He had to be sent back to his original seat and replaced during the flight when the crew realised how drunk he was...
#8
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: UK
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As regards putting one's book down... if it's a company rule then it should, of course, be enforced by ALL FAs. But FAs are only human...
#9
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Just because something isn't explicitly set out as being mandatory in the rules/laws doesn't mean that it's not a good thing to do. As a recent Horizon documentary showed, the vast majority of people in the UK refused to wear seatbelts for many years after they became mandatory in all cars sold there, due to a perception that they would actually restrict you/impede your escape in the case of an accident.
And quite frankly, I find the suggestion that airlines should simply observe the minimum mandatory safety standards, and not consider doing an iota more, a rather strange one. I'm sure that any airline worth its salt would require all such reading matter to be stowed as standard procedure when preparing for an emergency landing, whether or not they do this as part of their normal procedures.
And quite frankly, I find the suggestion that airlines should simply observe the minimum mandatory safety standards, and not consider doing an iota more, a rather strange one. I'm sure that any airline worth its salt would require all such reading matter to be stowed as standard procedure when preparing for an emergency landing, whether or not they do this as part of their normal procedures.
#10
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I think you're missing the point. There is no such KLM official rule about this, its not in the SOP.
I say this because I got in contact with one of the Cabin Service managers after this bizarre experience happened to me.
Based on your arguments, all airlines should have such a rule, but they don't and neither does KLM.
Whether or not airlines require certain behaviors for an actual emergency landing is another point of discussion. The OP was not involved in an emergency landing. I'm quite sure a pax would be the least concerned with reading during an emergency landing. Why is this even worth mentioning, its not a point of debate?
It's very difficult to read something during the take off role and actual landing due to the movement of the aircraft so I always store my reading materials for those parts of the flight. But being told (as I was) that reading it during taxi and after the "10 minutes to landing" is stupid. For example a taxi to/from the Polderbaan or at LHR can take an age.
Anyway, thankfully, there is no such rule and that's the end of it.
I say this because I got in contact with one of the Cabin Service managers after this bizarre experience happened to me.
Based on your arguments, all airlines should have such a rule, but they don't and neither does KLM.
Whether or not airlines require certain behaviors for an actual emergency landing is another point of discussion. The OP was not involved in an emergency landing. I'm quite sure a pax would be the least concerned with reading during an emergency landing. Why is this even worth mentioning, its not a point of debate?
It's very difficult to read something during the take off role and actual landing due to the movement of the aircraft so I always store my reading materials for those parts of the flight. But being told (as I was) that reading it during taxi and after the "10 minutes to landing" is stupid. For example a taxi to/from the Polderbaan or at LHR can take an age.
Anyway, thankfully, there is no such rule and that's the end of it.
#11
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Nowhere have I said, or should it be implied from what I have said, that all airlines should have a similar rule on this particular point. Most airlines require headphones/electronic devices to be shut off and stowed in these phases. This seems more widespread than the "stow everything" approach. Is this also a needless inconvenience to the passenger? If not, why is this more acceptable?
However, I think it is obvious why (in some cases) cabin crew may ask you to stow everything, and even if you think they are being overly cautious, and isn't it just as easy to go along with the crew's directions?
My point about the emergency landing was this: you seem to accept that stowing all reading matter when preparing for an emergency landing is a good thing. But if an accident should occur during either takeoff or landing, there is no time for the crew to react and undertake such additional preparations - so it does not seem unusual (to me) for at least some crew to take extra steps before each takeoff and landing for what is (hopefully, in all cases) an event that will not happen
However, I think it is obvious why (in some cases) cabin crew may ask you to stow everything, and even if you think they are being overly cautious, and isn't it just as easy to go along with the crew's directions?
My point about the emergency landing was this: you seem to accept that stowing all reading matter when preparing for an emergency landing is a good thing. But if an accident should occur during either takeoff or landing, there is no time for the crew to react and undertake such additional preparations - so it does not seem unusual (to me) for at least some crew to take extra steps before each takeoff and landing for what is (hopefully, in all cases) an event that will not happen
#12
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Just because something isn't explicitly set out as being mandatory in the rules/laws doesn't mean that it's not a good thing to do.
And quite frankly, I find the suggestion that airlines should simply observe the minimum mandatory safety standards, and not consider doing an iota more, a rather strange one.
And quite frankly, I find the suggestion that airlines should simply observe the minimum mandatory safety standards, and not consider doing an iota more, a rather strange one.
Exactly. If crew make up their own rules, you are free to ignore them, just like you can ignore anybody else who tries to impose figments of their imagination on you.
Johan
#13
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Indeed. When they prepare the cabin for landing put everything away so they have no reason to pick on you; once they've settled down themselves, read your book/put back in your headphones/crack open your duty free or do whatever it is you have to do in the exit row during landing.
#14
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I can't believe I'm reading this. Is it really such a big deal having to put away one's book for a few minutes? Personally I think it's a very sensible rule, whether mandated by the authorities or not.
What I'm a lot more concerned about (going off the original topic, sorry...) are the many times I see emergency exit rows that are completely empty because no one is prepared to pay for them on a short flight.
What I'm a lot more concerned about (going off the original topic, sorry...) are the many times I see emergency exit rows that are completely empty because no one is prepared to pay for them on a short flight.
#15
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