marvanit

I have had this announcement occur three times, all with the same flight attendant. During the flight, I asked her if anyone really fell for it. She laughed and said "You would be surprised."

schwarm

And my father used to say that he put a chemical in the pool that turned pee purple.

KurtVH

It's a lighthearted way of telling people to turn off their devices. i've heard it a dozen or more times. There is no device. Lighten up, Francis.

LtKernelPanic

It's a joke. They said something similar on a recent AA flight including reading off a couple "texts". To know that they would have to break several federal regulations and laws. They could know if devices are on if they're connected to the plane's onboard wifi but that's it.

djk7

The next version of the FA's device will have that feature. Don't be surprised to hear "Bob, turn off that cell phone, Jennifer, turn off the Kindle".

KM123

a calculator is on? Doesn't that throw the fact that the announcement could have possibly of been true. They should have stuck with phones.

GRALISTAIR

Southwest are usually good at these quips. I remember flying out of SNA (MAY this year actually) and due to the sound ordinance, the FA came on and whispered over the intercom "sssshhhhh we are flying over rich people" - hilarious. But I did once have a CO FA say, come on please switch off all those Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and Halle Berry's

planemechanic

It's not a joke, it's a lie. And if it were a joke it is not funny, and like all old tired jokes I don't want to here again and again and again. The fact that it is a lie makes it all that much more annoying, and add to that the fact that every time they use the PA my movie stops pushes it very more into the wrong and annoying area.

100 to anyone who lies like this to their customers.

emma69

Resorts in Europe used to post it beside the pool! Complete fabrication, of course, and I swear small boys peed just to try and make the water red / purple etc! Ewwww!

tfar

I agree. The BS customers are fed in an attempt to exert authority for the sake of exerting authority and turning them into sheep is nothing but disgusting.

To think of it as a joke is a huge euphemistic error probably stemming from a desire not wanting to feel the intellectual and human degradation this entire issue contains.

They should say: Dear Customers, as you know starting and landing are the most dangerous parts of the flight, where the most fatalities occur. We would thus like you to give us your full attention, don't play, don't read, don't listen to music on the headphones (because you may miss an important announcement) and put your shoes on already so that you have better chances to get out in case of an emergency. We would also like you to not use any electronic devices because we fear these could be used as remote triggers for any bombs our inadequate security joke called TSA might have overlooked despite testing your Starbucks coffee from the waiting area (now that is a joke). We feel the likelihood of a terrorist detonating a bomb is much higher on start and landing because a) this causes more damage, b) we are in the range of cellphone towers and c) it will be harder for authorities to find out what happened because they have to check for more possible causes. Of course, we all know that it doesn't matter in the end because if the plane really does get bombed our survival chances are minimal. But that's why we want to do what we can, so please turn of your toys and concentrate. Have a nice flight, sit back and relax.

That makes sense (at least much more than most of the other BS they tell you).

If they said this, they would be sure that the word spread and people might actually see the point. It might become unnecessary to say it, although for legal reasons they may still have to say it and because there are always people who fly for the first time. Still, I find this a much better approach.

Till

emma69

I don't think inducing fear and panic in passengers is particulaly helpful. It escalates the businessman just getting off one last message to 'OMG he is a hijacker' status, when really, he just knows that at that time, on that morning, they are going to be on the taxiway (ie not active runway) for at least another half an hour after pulling away from the gate. Do we really want the woman in 18b screaming 'BOMB' because 18c is a teenager who just got a text msg from his girlfriend? Do you want the nervous flyer in 33d being pushed over the edge and demanding to be left off the aircraft (and missing your slot for take off).

Oh and women in heels should take their shoes off, not put them on!

KurtVH

Dude, you're going to have a coronary.

planemechanic

I was very calm when I wrote that, as I am most days. Very few people have seen me angry, as that is not who I am. Just because I have a firm opinion on something doesn't mean I am stressed out. YMMV

KurtOlsson

I remember hearing something like this on FR flights a few years back, never knew if they where serious - especially mixed in between the flogging of drinks in plastic bags and lottery tickets. These days they're more eager to market their own in-flight phone connection...

DevilsX

Actually, if these were cellphones it'd be very possible, only if the FA actually violates a rule in order to find out. Most people leave bluetooth functions running on their cellphones. If the FA used her cell to do a BT sweep, then yes it will show all BT enabled devices in the vicinity, indicating the names of the devices. Assuming no one has a custom name for their mobile device, it's easy to tell what specific model/brand the phones are.