Are the old 30 min DCA Rules Back?
 

I was on an ATL-DCA flight yesterday and the crew made everyone sit for the last 30 minutes of the flight. They gave the old speach about it being an FAA rule that everyone be in their seats for the final 30 minutes coming into DCA. When questioned about it, the FA, who was very friendly and confused about the situation said that the pilots were required to sign a document recently affirming that they would adhere to this rule. We didn't press her further on it because she clearly didn't know what the deal was, but said that she was suprised about it. She also made a comment about the TSA and FAA basically ruining the air transportation industry.

So the question is, are they bringing back this stupid rule?

I flew through DCA yesterday (11 Jan) and no such announcement was made. I was on US, fwiw, so it may be airline specific, or being implemented at different speeds, or just a confused flight crew.

jon

Not the last few times I've been into DCA. And I've flown in there 10 times in the last 5-6 months.

Now, on a couple of flights the crew has made a specific announcement that due to the flight into DCA we MUST be seated anytime the seat belt light is on as a security measure. But I've seen that as being no different from the YX crews that make a point of saying "stay away from the cockpit door".

I live in DC and fly in and out all the time. This was my 4th DCA flight in January and I haven't seen this before. It was a 1 day turn around and on the outbound there was no such announcement.

As far as I know, the rule has not been reinstated. However, that being said, I have flown w/ pilot crews who ask that the 30 min. rule be implemented. With captains authority, I comply w/ their request. If someone complained, they would have to answer for their decision.

As for saying it was a FAA reg., my guess is that either the fa was lying, unclear on the rule, or using "shorthand" to who she thought was an infrequent flyer.

I doubt Delta cares if you complain, given their legendary skill for brown-nosing the Government at every opportunity, but I can say that we have official channels at Continental that we report these violations to, and crews are written up for it and re-trained.

Taking action against crew violators has cut the number of incidents down dramatically at CO.

My guess is Delta will respond with a canned letter or email stating they cannot discuss security issues but they appreciate the need to keep passengers safe...nonsensical drivel.

You should have asked whomever made the announcement what the FAR for such a rule was.

Please file a complaint with the DOT and FAA for this employee making up false FARs. Complain to Delta too.

It was no longer exist for 30 mins rule to/from DCA last few years ago. Because TSA has been suspending the 30 minutes rules to stay in the seat. It should be reinstates for 30 minutes rule once again. I can't personally why TSA will not being back for restrictions by 30 minutes rules.

You probably had an uptight pilot who decided to make it his rule.

I find that some pilots are laid back with their pre-flight briefing while others go overboard with the security lecture.

I had a laid back pilot on a US flight a week ago with a spectacular flight crew. I talked to one of the FA's who knew of Flyertalk during boarding and she took good care of me. OTOH, just a couple days ago I had a "strict" pilot on an AA flight who gave the "two minute security lecture".

The pilot on the AA flight was great otherwise - he gave some good route info & updates on the PA, pointed out unique landmarks (was a clear day) and just prior to final he talked about the mild winter/lack of snow, said we'd be flying over Lake Michigan and to have a look to the left for a great view of Chicago and in just a few minutes we'd be making a left turn on our final to O'Hare ... if you're on the left you'll be able to see Wrigley Field, etc.

At the end of the flight he was outside the cockpit door shaking pax hands, thanking everyone for flying American, etc. A couple of kids were deplaning with parents before me - he told them to take seats up in first class if they wanted to see the cockpit after everyone deplaned. He was a real stand-up guy, proud of his job and company ... but a security stickler.

I notice AA has it's share of security stickler pilots (and FAs) compared to other carriers -- I almost get the impression it's company policy, whereas the pilots tend to be more laid back on NW, US, or CO as a general rule when giving the pre-departure speech. Had some real strick ones on US Express back in December where they said "please be aware the cockpit door is at the front of the aircraft - we prohibit passengers from approaching the cockpit door inflight" -- it was an ERJ and I was in 1A.

Nice FA, but she seemed a bit nervous. One pax did approach the galley to get something and I put my legs into the aisle so he didn't accidently go any further. The FA noticed me putting my legs out and actually thanked me! I wasn't worried but figured it wouldn't hurt to block the aisle with my legs given the "strict" announcement. Maybe the FA had a bad experience recently - ya never know.

What would this have accomplished? Sometimes your shoot the messenger and hope it kills the king tactics are completely ineffective, not to mention a waste of time and energy.

SDF_travler, you know I really can't blame AA for maybe being more stricter than some of the others.

People should not make up "security" directives, especially stupid ones.

Really? What's the basis for that belief, some sort of lightning-strikes-twice theory? It's pretty silly for an airline to be extra-concerned about security because they happened to be the victims of a hijacking. Clearly, every airline is exposed to an identical risk, however large or small that risk might be. You can't seriously believe that terrorists -- who don't exist in the U.S., in my opinion, but never mind that for the moment -- when planning their nefarious terrorist plots, say to themselves, "Hmmm, let's see, we were able to hijack American's planes last time, so let's go after them again." Isn't it just as likely they would go after another airline? Or just choose one at random?

Actually, if terrorists are planning anything in the U.S., it's unlikely they would go after air travel at all. Been there, done that. How about going after schools, like the Chechens did in Russia. Now that's really nasty. They killed hundreds of schoolchildren in Russia. If that happened here, we would immediately establish the Primary School Security Administration, another Federal agency, with at least 500,000 employees to guard the entrances to all schools in America. Then the terrorists would switch to malls, leading to the Federal Mall Security Administration, etc. Eventually, we could just lock everybody in their homes to keep them safe. I can't wait.

Bruce

The captain is God on his plane. If he says sit, you sit. You are never going to win the argument that the captain is wrong if he wants greater security (perceived or real) on his aircraft regardless of the reason he states.

Any captain who believes he is "God on his plane" is delusional and/or on a power-trip, both of which ignores the reality that pilots can be sued and pilots can go to prison (or perhaps even be executed) for acting like "God on his plane".

Pilots and employers backing their pilots don't always win the argument -- certainly not always even on the basis that their actions are "right" "if he wants greater security (perceived or real) on his aircraft regardless of the reason he states".