I read the story with some interest.

Three weeks ago, I had a redemption trip booked through BA on Iberia from Madrid out to MVD and back from EZE. Both flights were in business - out on an A330-200 and back on an A350-900 and from my seats (4A and 6A) I could see the door to the flight deck easily when the curtain to the galley wasn't in the way. I was surprised to see the flight deck door remain open multiple times for what seemed like a minute or two when one of the pilots visited the lavatory or galley. Once, when I had visited the lav (between the flight deck and the galley on both flights), I opened the door to return to my seat and the flight deck door was open with one of the pilots talking to the cabin crew in the galley!

On the outbound flight, one of the pilots came into the cabin and had a chat with the passenger sitting in 2D who he seemed to know well. As the cabin prepared for landing, one of the cabin crew had a word with the passenger and escorted him through the galley and into the flight deck (which I could clearly see). This may be completely above board and the passenger could have been an ex-colleague, for instance, but I have never seen it happen since it was banned after 9/11. Leaving the flight deck door open routinely was another surprise and not something I can say that I've noticed before either. I've usually seen pilots leaving the flight deck while airborne and closing it behind them straight away. Do different airlines have different rules/guidelines about this?