Originally Posted by
Exec_Plat
The airline may have procedures to comply with AA regulations that may in fact prohibit such items, but as I recall the FAA actually has a weight limit in their regs
The FAA does insist that the airlines enforce their own regulations so to that extent if it is an airline policy then the FAA will police enforcement.
In the case of the seat-back pockets, they are not rated for storage of anything other than the material the airline puts in there so they should not be used for anything else during take-off/landing.