Armrest Question
 

Just got off a flight (ewr-iah), was told by the EWR based FA (rather rudely) that I had to keep my armrest down during the flight. I am referring to the armrest facing the aisle in an aisle seat, not between the seats. I discovered that you could lift the armrest most of CO mainline planes a few years ago and other than being told a few times on takeoff & landing that it had to be down, I have never had anyone question this. I asked the FA if it was a FAA reg, after hesitating she said yes so I put it down.

If it is an FAA reg CO has done a poor job of enforcing this, does anyone know if it is?

Thanks.

Hmmmm...could this be a new directive from Smith Street? See, the more uncomfortable they can make coach, the more likely they will sell FC seats rather than give them away. Brilliant, I say.

Not.

I've been told to keep the aisle-side armrest down only during takeoff and landing. The rest of the time the FA seems not to care at all if it is up.

Same here and same on WN flights.

I was on a flight a few days ago and there was a very tall (and somewhat large) passenger who could not fit in the seat with the armrest down. He needed it up to articulate his right leg enough to fit under the seat in front of him

I don't know what the rule is, but the FA helped him pull it up. He was in an exit row in which it was fixed. Apparently there is a button at the rear of the armrest that releases it to be raised.

Seems if you were belted properly, it would not be a safety issue - except perhaps when the carts come down the aisle!

The armrest only needs to be down during Taxi, Takeoff, and Landing. I would file a complaint against this FA. I am so sick of hearing about crap like this about my coworkers, there is no excuse for behavior like this towards passengers and it is completely unacceptable. What flight were you on? And what day? I will look up the crew :)

How in the world can they put someone in an exit row that can't fit in a seat properly without making adjustments? People in those rows need to be able to act quickly in the off chance there really is an emergency. Obviously this guy wouldn't be able to.

well, i don't know about "obviously." most linemen in football couldn't fit in coach seats but they are quite athletic.

Never ask a member of a crew whether an act is a violation of an FAA regulation because that just invites an affirmative response.

I don't think it's just a CO rule. I've heard the announcement on CO, COEX (Chautauqua), UA, NW, and WN in the last few months. The only airline I've flown recently where it hasn't been announced at all was DL, but then, on most of DL's it's impossible to raise the aisle armrest.

It is possible to raise the isle arm rest on ALL of our mainline aircraft, buttons in different locations for different aircraft. The only time that they are required to be down is for taxi, takeoff, and landing. I think that it is worth mentioning, the reason the isle armrest are movable is for passengers that require the use of an isle chair or a passenger that has difficulty getting into the seat.

This is a very touchy subject when it comes to POS (person of size... not the other meaning of this acronym). I could honestly care less as long as it does not effect safety. I have actually advised passengers that the armrest goes up to help make everyone more comfortable, and they are very willing to comply to having it down for taxi, takeoff and landing. I think that is the important part, being able to meet in the middle (hopefully not a middle seat ;))

Similarly, does the window seat armrest go up on all planes, too?

That was the first thing that came to mind but what your saying makes sense.

There is a little more to the story. This came up because the passenger across the aisle from me stopped the FA and asked how he could lift his arm rest like mine was (he was a big guy and needed a seat belt extender). I reached over to show him where the button was, before I could get a word out the FA told us that we were not allowed to raise them during the flight so she told me to lower mine. I said that I fly quite a bit and no FA had ever asked me to lower the armrest during the flight, I them asked if it was a FAA reg, she hesitated then said yes so I complied.

Then a little later in the flight the guy across the aisle gets up to go to the rest room, comes back raises the armrest to sit down and has it up until just before we landed, the FA walked past his seat about 3 times while it was up I didn’t say anything just to see if she would see it. The FA was making the last pass though the cabin notices "his" armrest is up looks at me and says "that armrest needs to be lowered" I said "it already is lowered" she says "I'm not talking to you" I replied "then why are you looking at me" she turned and walked away.

Now in the big scheme of things this is a trivial matter but for the LOVE OF GOD, I find a way to make one of the most uncomfortable seats that I have ever sat in a little more tolerable and nurse ratchet has to be working my flight.

UncleBuck, the flight # was 303 ewr-iah today (12/10).

I think I've only failed to find the button once :D :D :D

I've given up the hunt but I've never found the buttons on a mainline plane. ERJ's yes, Boeings no. :(