Originally Posted by
DLATL777
This is nothing new for US carriers. I believe its due in part to the overly litigious nature of the society we live in, but honestly this has been the standard for 20+ years. If someone sneezes most US based pilots will put on the fasten seat-belt sign for 30 minutes to insure the "safety" of everyone on board...
My dramatization aside, no other country on earth (I have been to 54 at this point) that I have ever been to is as neurotic as US carriers when it comes to this policy and its one of the many things I despise about American carriers. Most switch off the seat-belt sign once above 10K feet as well.
I have observed this practice on non-DL flights as well. Last year flew LHR-AMS-KGL-AMS-LHR on KLM. Noticed that the seat belt light went off at 10,000 feet and stayed off until decent to landing on all flights despite light-to-moderate turbulence. I made a mental note that DL pilots would have had the light on for hours.