FlyerTalk Forums - Are the old 30 min DCA Rules Back?

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- - Are the old 30 min DCA Rules Back? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/practical-travel-safety-security-issues/646876-old-30-min-dca-rules-back.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by txrus (Post 7010859)

Perhaps if you would quite flip flopping...first you ask if the no pee rule has been reinstated, to which your fellow FTer's HELPFULLY tell you no, then you berate a fellow FTer for not recognizing 'the pilot is God & if he tells you to sit, you sit' & now you're berating me for asking you why you were even asking in the first place if you feel the 'pilot is God' on the plane. Can't have it both ways.

However, to answer your question, no, the no pee rule never really impacted me simply because I'm generally on transcons which last MUCH longer & for which, the AA crews at least, would like nothing better than to keep their passengers chained in the seats for the entire 6+ hrs, so my sympathy for having to stay seated for 'most or all of' a 30 minute trip is fairly low, though I certainly did feel the no pee rule was absurd to begin with.

There is no flip-flop. A flip-flop would mean that I changed my mind. At all points in the thread I wanted to know if the 30 minute rule was still in effect. I still believe that, for better or worse, the captain is in charge on his aircraft (point by GUWonder is well received), and have no idea why you think that if I believe the captain is in charge I should not care if the 30 minute rule is in effect.

If you get up on an AA transcon flight between NYC and LAX, do they divert to another airport and arrest you when you arrive? Since you don't fly much short-haul in on the east coast you might be unaware that a flight in the NE that is scheduled for 35 minutes of flying time (i.e. the shuttles) will often easily equate to a much longer gate-to-gate time. As such, your 30 minute flight is a red herring.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiff (Post 7012988)

Not true, there's just a higher probability of two being on a flight to/from DCA.

Spiff is correct, they are not (don't appear to be) on all DCA flights. The flight in question didn't appear to have any on it. My upgrade didn't clear and I was one of the last to board so I was able to take a good look at all the aisle passengers in F. If there was a FAM, he didn't look the part.

Given my own experiences into/out of DCA, I'd say it's more likely an out-of-date captain (i.e., a pilot relying upon old rules/old news) than necessarily a nervous nelly or power-tripping pilot. (Not that the other two possibilities or a third possibility can be ruled out.)

Given the low passenger loads on some of my flights out of and into DCA after DCA reopened, I'm pretty confident FAMs were not on all my flights to DCA, particularly not on JFK-DCA's smaller planes then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonypct (Post 7014808)

I'm on DL shuttle tomorrow from LGA to DCA. I'll post here what, if any, rules were stated.

No 30 minutes rules stated. You will always free walk around the cabin but, you can go to bathroom before landed to DCA.

As N830NH already stated, there is no rule about not standing on flights to DCA. Flew down here to DCA on the Delta Shuttle and no announcements made and after the seat belt sign went off, several people got up to use the bathroom. Finally, some sense has been brought back into the system!

A flight crew friend told me that rule ended over a year ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonypct (Post 7014808)

I'm on DL shuttle tomorrow from LGA to DCA. I'll post here what, if any, rules were stated.

We were surprised when we heard that announcement in November, after not having heard for a while, and then in December again. However, on Monday the 15th, that announcement was not made. It seems like some FA's or pilots make-up their own rules.