New TSA 'Regulation?'
 

So I was on a NW flight (small CRJ operated by Mesaba or Pinnacle) and our very, very new FA announced that 'Seat back pockets are not approved for storage use as regulated by the TSA. This includes bottles.' As she was doing the walk through before takeoff, she made the person sitting across from me pull his water bottle out of the seat pocket and hold onto it.

Has anyone else encountered this new 'regulation'? I've never heard of this, especially not on AE.

To me it seems this is a new 'service enhancement' to 'improve cabin conditions'. Seriously, if they're that worried about the seat pockets picking up wear and tear, they should purchase a more durable product...

She's lying. Report her.

Favorite response
 

this is my favorite response EVER on Flyertalk...

My understanding is that the seat pocket is not an approved storage compartment per the FAA (not the TSA), so personal items are technically not allowed there. I've heard of this being enforced with larger items such as laptops; however, I've never seen it enforced with something as small as a water bottle.

Quoted below is, perhaps, the most relevant portion of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations relating to the subject:

FWIW, Section 91.525 referred to above has to do with cargo holds.

Mike

Putting one lap child in a seat-pocket should be allowed...at least on QANTAS flights.

^ ^

Now, THIS is MY favorite response ever on Flyertalk!

I had an AS flight last year where the FA was requiring people to remove even small items (i.e. cellphones) from seat pockets prior to departure.

I was on a NW CRJ Friday and our FA told us the same thing. Me and another pax couldn't stop from laughing.

The TSA has nothing to do with seat-back pocket safety. When someone quotes "security" regulations when they are not applicable, it makes all "security" related issues seem stupid and likely to be ignored.

Perhaps the FAA has such a mandate. She should be able to produce the FAR that makes such a proclaimation. However, there is no such TSA requirement and she should be reported so that she stops whitewashing her requests to the passengers as having some kind of security mandate attached to them.

If an FA did that to me I would pull out all of the magazines, the security flyer and the airbag and hand it to the FA and ask him/her to bring it back to me upon cruise altitude... :D

The only times I have heard such an announcement were AE flights DFW-BTR. On one of those flights (a year or more ago) the FA was absolutely consumed by the issue. There several announcements reminding everyone to keep the seat pockets clear*. She made 1-2 before departure, several during the flight including right before landing. When the FA wasn't announcing it over the PA, she was patrolling the aisles looking for illegally stashed items in the seat pockets. Although I have heard the announcement on other DFW-BTR flights, I've never encountered anyone else that was quite as enthusiastic about enforcing the rule.

* no books, personal items, water bottles, personal magazines, etc.

If you hear it again, be sure to take the magazines out and and them to her. "No storage" means "no storage", right? :p

But she let him hold it? So it goes flying out of his hand as the plane crashes? If you're gonna make 'em take it out of the seat pocket, shouldn't it go under the seat?

I thought the seat pocket was my space.
 

I decided a while ago the seat pocket was mine. When I board, I remove the airline materials, stow my water, reading glasses, and a couple of pounds of reading that I've brought with me, then buckle up. It seems no sooner to I find a way to make the system work better for me, that option is removed <sigh>.

Royal Jordanian has no seat pockets.

Sylvia

This was in the exit row, no less.

And since the airlines always brag about how their inflight magazine 'is yours to keep', does this mean you can't leave the magazine in the seat pocket? Or how about the Skymall magazine.....


It didn't really seem like the FA was trying to make this rule up- she was very, very new and read everything from the script (I think English is a second language for her; the very thick Greek accent was amusing), which made me think that the airline has thrown that line in (especially considering most of the seat pockets around me were torn or in bad shape). OT comment- I was especially nervous when she walked up and down the aisle offereing coffee from a full pot without the lid (she did this twice). All things aside, she was very very friendly, which made up for her relative incompetence.

I e-mailed NWA about it, we'll see what they say.