AC178 on July 9th.. I asked about it when I was talking to an FA and she specificlaly told me it wasn't on because we weren't in the air yet... but actually I do think something must have clicked for someone because I recall it got turned on a few minutes before they started doing announcements/safety video.

AC123 on July 13th... Similar as above, I boarded very early in the process and noticed the system wasn't turned on until everyone was boarded and seated.

Side note but AC178 on the 9th (which was fully loaded) was for some reason only loaded with 5 pizzas (which were gone by row 15)... But that just launches me into my lack of child friendly meal options in the back rant so I'll get back on topic.

The system reset part is annoying (takes away from the gate-to-gate expirience).. I tend to just get the movie (or whatever) past the commercials before they do the reset so it can be resumed (which works 50% of the time). The other day the video wasn't reset at all just put on hold for the safety announcements (which was excellent). Is there a particular way that this is supposed to be done? It's the inconsistency that bugs me.. (Ha, also why Ice Age was under Contemporary rather than Family..the little one was happy when I stumbled across it though!).

If anything, shouldn't Ice Age be under the History Category?

I wasn't aware of this. I don't have an EnRoute handy but I don't recall reading this in the fine print of the gate to gate IFE full page ad either. At least I know now. Thanks!

Here's that regulatory guidance that someone asked about:

Advisory Circular 0252 - Safety Considerations Of Corded Electrical Devices in the Passenger Cabin

The only problem with the new service on flights that I've been on is with the 767 and the same problem as before the gate-to-gate service was offered: if too many people engage the system at the same time, it runs away to hide. The worst occurrence for me was last month on one YOW-LHR sector where it took 4 resets and about 2.5 hours before it was stable. :p

YUL-YOW AC 631 June 29 IFE was not activated. People can still finish their movie or watch a tv show during the short flight.

Had them ask me to not use the over ear ones last week. Thought because they wouldn't know who is on line with their system or using a person device like Ipod.

CM

...wow.. and here I thought the cell phone rules were the most baseless thing one can find on an aircraft.

I imagine there was extensive research done to come up with this cogent policy, are these findings publishes somewhere? (ie: ear bud types can be removed in 0.5 seconds, over the ears in 0.7 seconds and will kill you in an emergency)??

Anybody who gets trapped evacuating an aircraft simply due to wearing over the ear headphones deserves a darwin award anyway.

If it was entirely safe to use the over the ear type of earpiece, don't you think Transport Canada would have better things to do than to not approve it? Maybe they're doing it just to piss you off personally.

What does TC and then AC gain by now allowing it if it was safe to do so?

But I guess you must be a real safety expert who knows better than the experts who work on this stuff everyday and just happen to know what they do. :rolleyes:

You mean the ones who told me it was unsafe to use my cell phone during taxi after landing for 10+ years? (still a major threat to use it on departure taxi, obviously, let alone in the air...God I hope Bob in 34E remembered to turn his off, we all might die...)

..And the ones who told me that I had do disable my wifi to keep the plane safe, until the airline started selling wifi for $7.95 per flight? Puhhlease.

As you point out, I'm not a *real* safety expert, I just play one on TV, but surely a *real* safety expert (with one of those fancy airplane safety degrees) might think that being able to clearly hear the FA's re-announce the locations of the exit rows on flights > 4 hours via noise canceling headphones is a good thing?

(...and maybe have the FA's announce the row numbers of the overwing exits, so I can calculate the number of seats I need to pass to reach it?). I have a hard time locating 'over the wing' crawling on my knees in a smoke filled cabin.


And surely *real* safety experts publish *real* safety papers so their peers can learn from their vast knowledge?

This isn't an FAA mandate yet, and TC's lack of outrage over this is appalling - letting the overhead headphone wearing flyers of the US just die in emergencies, without so much as an admonishment..or publishing this groundbreaking study so they can learn..

Absolute nonsense policy! Any normal human being can actually slip headphones off just as quick, if not quicker than earbuds. Don't you find it unusual that Westjet doesn't have any problem with people wearing their over-the-ear headphones for landing? :rolleyes:

Transport Canada likes Air Canada better, so they protect their passengers more thoroughly.

Here's that regulatory guidance that someone asked about:

TCCA Advisory Circular 0252 - Safety Considerations Of Corded Electrical Devices in the Passenger Cabin
FAA Policy Statement PS-ANM100-02-115-20 - Corded Electrical Devices Used in the Passenger Cabin

Of course mattm00se is right. Safety "experts" are just coming up with whatever they feel is right at the time. There is no data, and he is absolutely right that their recommendations (which are blindly followed, and, worse, vigorously enforced without independent thought by FAs) change with the wind.

A sense of candour and honesty ("we actually have no friggin' idea what is safe and what is dangerous") would be welcomed in this debate.

What debate ?

Until interested and "expert" individuals such as FFers stop posting whiny stuff on an IBB and instead take the issue up with the regulators and lobby for change, the situation will remain the same.

But please don't shoot the messenger......the airlines have a legal obligation to comply with rules, whether they are silly or not. Period.

But that doesn't explain why FFers are reporting different standards on one Canadian airline versus another.

You don't need to be a safety expert to know that most of the rules are BS. That fact is proved beyond doubt by the changing and hypocritical rules that are pronounced.