Exit Row Reading

Old Oct 29, 2013, 5:43 am
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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.
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 5:54 am
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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.
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 5:58 am
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The newspaper thing is BS!
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 6:00 am
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Originally Posted by hugolover
The newspaper thing is BS!
Try reading a newspaper beside an open door on a windy day. Or just leave it on the floor in front of said door.
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 6:08 am
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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?
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 6:33 am
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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.
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 6:58 am
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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...
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 7:33 am
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Originally Posted by AyrMiles
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.
Happens on a regular basis on short Cityhopper flights such as NWI-AMS. I've got photos, from several flights, showing an entire empty row.

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...
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 7:39 am
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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.
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 8:11 am
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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.
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 8:24 am
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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
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Old Oct 29, 2013, 12:34 pm
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Originally Posted by irishguy28
even if you think they are being overly cautious, and isn't it just as easy to go along with the crew's directions?
Originally Posted by irishguy28
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.
Airlines are free to enforce stricter standards, but the point is that this is for the airlines to decide, not the cabin crew. The cabin crew are there to ensure that the rules laid down by the airline are obeyed, and nothing else. They should definitely not make up their own, the lack of consistency would only cause confusion and reduce compliance, as this thread illustrates.

Originally Posted by hugolover
Anyway, thankfully, there is no such rule and that's the end of it.
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.

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Old Oct 29, 2013, 6:05 pm
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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.
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Old Oct 30, 2013, 12:27 am
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Originally Posted by Aviatrix
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.
Is it not a legal requirement for an airline to have a passenger seated next to an emergency exit at take off and landing
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Old Oct 30, 2013, 1:10 am
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Originally Posted by irishguy28
crack open your duty free.
Completely off topic, I know, but . . . it never ceases to amaze me that zillions of travelers drag heavy bags full of bottles halfway around the globe just to save a few bucks. (Yeah, I'm the odd man out here, I know that too).

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