"No computers in standby mode"
 

I was happily on my year end MR to wrap up 1K. On my return flight UA914 SFO-IAD I put my computer into standby as I always do and I was about to stow it overhead. One of the FAs walked by told me that I have to turn it off completely. He stood alongside me and forced me to turn it off. He would not even give me time to bring it out of standby, unlock it and gracefully shut it down. I saw him giving grief to another passenger as well. Then the purser made an announcement to the same effect saying that computers and all electronic devices need to be completely turned off. If this new UA policy or a powertripping FA (set of FAs).

Probably just powertripping. However, technically all electronic devices which aren't on the approved list do indeed need to be powered off.

I put my laptop into hibernation; that is, it writes the contents of memory to disk and fully shuts down. It indeed powers off, but will start up more quickly than from cold shutdown and will of course restore everything to the state it was before I put it into hibernation. This contrasts with a standby mode in which the computer merely shuts off the screen, drives, etc., and goes into a low-power waiting state.

I don't expect the FAs to know the difference, but at least from the technical perspective, one is shutting your computer's power off, and the other is not.

I'm not sure it's a power trip, having noticed recently that the announcements on many flights during the past couple of months have clearly specified that all electronic devices ('Anything with an on/off switch') must be turned completely off, and that 'standby' or 'airplane' mode do not qualify.

Announcement has always been to turn off all electronic devices. I've even seen instructions that specifically include noise cancelling headphones.

As an aside. The new Apple MacBook Air is all solid state and powers up or off in less than 10 seconds.

From what I've seen its fa to fa. Some weeks I will get yelled at cause I have on my QC15's listening to channel 9 at the gate and some weeks they will just walk right by and not say a word.

Hopefully one day they will stop banning the use of cell phones after the door closes. Hate when I get the evil eye from the fa after the door closes and my phone stays on.

While the FA might happen to have been a power tripper, she was correct about "completely" shutting down all electronic devices.

If the ban can be safely rescinded, then yes, that could be a nice change. But in the meantime, if you hate getting the "evil eye" for breaking FAA regulations, maybe you should follow the regulations. :confused: The flight attendant is doing her job by giving you the "evil eye"!

But isn't it powertripping from the PAX that is not technically following the rules? I understand that a turned on electronic device has never been 100% proven to take down a plane but until the rule is lifted and we are allowed to leave them on, is it really that much of an inconvenience to you to shut down your computer /phone etc. And wait the extra 1 minute or so for a power up in the air. Why is it ok for 90% of the PAXs to follow the instructions and why do the other 10% feel they are so special?

Its a rule. Turn off your device. Standby by definition is not turning a device off. What is your problem in turning it off as instructed?

I would have complied with his request but he would have had to wait for me to shut the system down cleanly.

I guess people like him counteract dot-com jokers like my seatmate in C last week SFO-LHR. He was fiddling around with two(!) Blackberrys at once while we taxied to the runway, and had to be told three separate times to shut the things off.

I always put my computer in standby mode, and I have never even given a second thought to the idea that it wasn't "completely off."

You're right that it isn't completely off; I just never gave that any consideration. I'm sure I"m not the only one making this mistake innocently.

(FWIW, ever since I installed the company's PC encryption software, hibernation mode doesn't work too well, so that's when I stopped using it.)

I guess I'm one of those people who don't think the rules apply to me...but my iPhone goes into airplane mode, iPad goes into airplane mode, and my MBP goes into sleep. Anything beyond that is pointless.

Not this problem again :rolleyes:


I've never run into this from an FA, and hope I don't. 99% of the time, they don't mind if I keep my headphones turned on during takeoff & landing..

I really feel sorry for the FA's and other airline employees when passengers think they're on some kind of powertrip when they are simply enforcing the rules.

Exactly.

Though when I first saw the thread title, I though it was a GA who wouldn't allow you to take a computer if you were flying standby. Now that would have been a power trip.

:p I thought that too! I'm a little bit surprised that the actual issue (FA said you have to turn computers completely off) gave rise to a thread.

On my flight last week, I had a guy next to me whose cell phone rang during take-off (not taxi! take-off!), and he answered it and talked until he lost the signal! I really wanted to smack him in the face. But of course, there was nothing I could do...this guy clearly knew the rules and didn't care, because he put awayhis cell phone during the FA safety check (but left it on). And if I rang the call button during the phone call, the FA might have to stand up during take-off, which would be even more dangerous for her. Ugh.