Originally Posted by
dblumenhoff
It is not an FAA requirement. See below what the FAA says:
It is up to the discretion of the airlines whether having a CRS in a non-window seat would block the escape path in an emergency (and as CARES harnesses don't impede anything, an airline not taking a "bluntness of a hammer" approach per SWCPHX might distinguish between the two in its policymaking).
Case in point, Southwest permits in window or middle (but not aisle):
https://www.southwest.com/help/flyin...g-with-infants
I was led to believe it was an FAA thing, but clearly that is not the case.
Regardless, it's a JetBlue thing. Flight attendants are instructed this during training and it's in their flight attendant manual, which do have to be regularly updated and approved by the FAA. So take that however you want, but for JetBlue to be able to operate under FAA jurisdiction, they (JetBlue in this case, and more specifically the FAA wants JetBlue to) want harnesses in the window seat. At JetBlue this will include any type of device such as a harness, car seat, or even a portable oxygen concentrator. Again this is all in their flight attendant manual (which again is an FAA-approved document), though I'm not about to cite the chapter and section on a public forum.
-J.