ColumbiaPete

Does anyone know when the rule about remaining seated for 30 minutes when flying into DCA was done away with?

It's not my home airport but I use it maybe 7-8 times a year. I was surprised last night when a crew on a CVG-DCA flight mentioned not once but twice that "since we're flying into Reagan National everyone will have to be seated for the last 30 minutes of the flight and we will be closing access to the forward lavatory during that time."

Leaving aside the logic of "if everyone has to be seated, shouldn't access to BOTH lavs be a non-issue?", I was just surprised at the announcement.

Hasn't it been 3-4 years since the 30-minute rule at DCA was done away with? Longer?

AArlington

Gosh I think that rule was officialy done away with in 2004. But perhaps you had a reserve crew who doesn't fly much (and flies even less into DCA).

Yes it's lame. Best to educate the crew AFTER you land!

MJonTravel

Email Delta. I still think DCA operates under its own directive..... But that 30 minute rule has been gone for a good while.

indogulf

There is a DCA specific rule in place that I cannot go into detail on a public forum.

Your crew may have worded it incorrectly but they were not wrong about there being a rule.

NWstu

Well, it ain't the TSA making the call unless things have changed recently:

http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/20...ease_0607.shtm

ColumbiaPete

OK. That being the case, why has the rule not mentioned or otherwise enforced on my other flights to/from DCA over the past 5 years since the original directive was rescinded? Just curious, as I mentioned in the OP I haven't used DCA a lot but it's always been business as usual in the past few years, no special announcements that I can recall.

The crew was DTW based and the lead FA was...trying to be kind here..quite "senior", which added to my perception that maybe he wasn't up on things.

mtkeller

Flew MSP-DCA today, and I'm pretty sure there were people up and about during the last 30 minutes of the flight. There definitely was no announcement about a 30-minute rule.

dimikagi

I fly in and out of DCA at least twice a month, and haven't heard the rule cited in years.

thezipper

The rule is enforced at the captains discretion... a UA flight may also enforce the "30 min rule" if the captain so desires, but I've really only seen it on NW and DL in my years flying in and out of DC.

...and yes it is completely ridiculous and you should write to Delta about it

davetravels

A 5 second Yahoo searched turned up this . . .

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/tsa_dca.html

dated July 12, 2005

"The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is suspending the rule that required all passengers flying into and out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to be seated for 30 minutes after departure or before arrival."

yada yada yada

xliioper

The evening CVG-DCA flight is a Mesaba CRJ-900.

iamhereandthere

It is the moron DL Connection flight crews still living in the naughties...

I forgot from where I was flying...DTW I think...but the only time I have heard the 30-minute rule is when I'm on a commuter aircraft...clearly those are the best to overtake anyway, right? I fly JFK-DCA a lot and there is never boo about anything...you are barely in the air 30 minutes anyway. Maybe no beverage service in coach, but everyone is free to move about their cabin.

Actually on the flight from DTW they actually locked the forward lav door and everyone had to use the rear lav "for security reasons" / DCA. They don't do that JFK-DCA.

It's akin to the no phone mode/PDA during flight thread. The commuter airlines seem to operate in their own world of rules.

usa18dca

Besides Captain's Authority, this post is just an example of idiocy hiding behind a veiled security curtain. it's not SSI so there's no need to hide it.

azj

DL connection crews are morons now? Well, isn't that respectful and mature. Why is it so hard to understand that at DL and each DL connection carrier, there are separate manuals and procedures. As much as DL wants to have all the airlines aligned, it is impossible. Jeez... DL crews never make mistakes or misinterpret a rule do they? Gimme a break and cut the Conneciton vs. mainline stereotypes! It's getting old. This "issue" if you can call it that is so trivial it's comical. All the suggestions to write DL and alert them remind me of kids trying to get someone they hate in trouble.

With regards to the OP... there ARE special procedures for crews at Mesaba going into and out of DCA. They don't include the old 30 minute rule, however. The rules for DCA are indeed more restrictive than normal and do set out a clear policy for arriving and departing, but it seems this crew might have taken it one step further and recalled the old policy or someone misunderstood the procedures.

SDF Louisville

I thought the post was a veiled DYKWIA