Is it OK to sleep on the floor?
 

I was wondering, are CO passengers allowed to sleep on the floor during a flight?

I've often been on long flights in cramped Y seating where I was so uncomfortable & desperate to sleep that I thought seriously of stretching out on the floor (between the seats, not in the aisle, of course!). (For example, when you & a family member are sitting in the middle 3 seats on a 777 or 767, and the middle seat is empty. The family member lies down on the 3 seats and I would sleep on the floor.)

Aside from the health concerns of being in contact with the whatever was last spilled on the floor, is this simply frowned upon as bad manners, or is this really not allowed for safety reasons (since you're not in your seat with your seat belt on)?

Does anybody know if there is official policy on ths or been discouraged from doing this?

i believe the answer is no. I had heard FAs tell folks no.

CO doesn't have a problem with you sleeping on the floor overnight at EWR, why would they have a problem with you sleeping on the plane?

You'll get scolded for that one. :) By the way, have you ever seen what lives in carpets? I wouldn't want to sleep next or near the floor on an airliner. :eek:

That is a great line. I guess you've had the presidential EWR suite - a couple seats together in the gate area or the ***floor***.
SR

It's not their airport; but they have rights to the plane. I guess there is a liability issue: if people trip over you, they could sustain an injury, leaving CO exposed to litigation. They also need room to maneuver those carts when they deliver that multi-course gourmet meal in coach. :)

I'm sure it's also an FAA reg, for safety reasons. No floor mounted seat belts. :)

Here's an alternative: if the flight is light, can a person stretch out in the overhead locker? :) It's tricky on a B777 or 767, since they're more bins, but there is some equipment where it's possible!

Queen of Sky did this (or a friend, maybe), and look what happened to her. :(

I've put blankets on the floor and had my kids sleep there on red-eyes. More than 9 times out of 10, nobody will bother you. Now I'm not always sure the fa's see the kids, so it's kind of a "don't ask, don't tell" thing. When I do get a fa comment, some say it's OK, and some say no. I will say my kids get lots more sleep down there, which of course is a good thing for everyone!

I just flew from EWR to EDI today.There were two men who were origianlly sitting in A and C.But later on A was sleeping on the three seats and C was sleeping on the floor.
Crew members dont even care about it as long as your legs dont block the aisle and I have seen people doing it quite often.

I've feen FAs saying no to people.
Dont remember which airline... but one of the Skyteam member.

And I've seen on some flights.. FAs dont care.

I bet my daughter would fit in the overhead bin, if it weren't so full... :D

Frankly, I could care less.....except for the fact that if we hit turbulence the "floor sleepers" are more likely to be the ones taken off in crevical collars. In addition, I don't want someone not wearing a seat belt landing on me after they bounce off the ceiling.

A friend of mine, an engineer at Boeing, says that they have a saying about people on airplanes (and turbulence):

There are two types of passengers on airplanes:
Those buckled into their seat and projectiles.

Remember when Mr. Brown was Gov. of Calif. One of the many stories they told on him was he would sleep in the asile of certain red-eye flights. At that time, before he became Mayor of Oakland, he had a nickname of Mr. Moonbeam. Soooooooooo if it's good enough for the "Gov", why not you?
Of course he had blankets, pillow, etc. I am sure but interestingly enough, this was supposedly in coach...I oftened wondered what others did to get access to lavatories in Y.

I used to do this as a kid, some decades ago.

Now, I'm too tall to be lying on the floor of anything except 777s with 2/5/2 seating. I tried it about a year ago on FJ's 747s, and even though my legs stuck out into the aisles a few inches, the FAs didn't care.

I imagine the overhead bins would be a more FAA-Friendly option than the floor. There's that whole seatbelt-turbulance issue to deal with.

I've camped out on the floor by the bulkhead exit on a delayed DC-10 once, but we were on the ground for an hour or so, and I wanted the space to work, rather than sleep.

Perhaps sitting on the floor is a more acceptable option since it's easy enough to move back to your seat when the seatbelt light comes on.

In some coach flights, I've though about askig to move to the jump seat until its time for landing. It may be a less comfrotable chair, but the trade off would me I could move my elbows. Anyone do that?

Cromely.

Actually the jump seats aren't that bad if not more comfortable than coach. I sit on them all of the time (while at work). The cushion slides out on most of them which allows you to comfortablly slouch and stretch out. I guess the hard part would be getting permission from a FA.

I do too! On our flights to Australia, all that room in front of 15A, I had to use it, slept better on the floor than in the business seat because I was horizontal.

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The pre-flight saftety video on Thai Airways flights explicitly mention that you can't sleep on the floor of the aircraft... they even feature a pictograph of a prospective slumberer with a "no smoking"-like red dash through it.

Back with JL had coach upstairs in their 747, and Row 64 (I think) was the exit (so like 6 feet of space), I slept on the floor there, and they didn't say anything. This was a while ago though.

We were told on a NW flight that it was forbidden by the FAA for a child to sleep on the floor. I suppose that means adults, too.

Perhaps our mistake was in letting the FA see it (we were 2nd to last row of seats). We had the whole row.

What's the weight limitation on those bins (no doubt exceeded by carry-on all the time). I've never seen an overhead bin I'd want to be in (but I haven't seen one over 5 feet long and with enough top to bottom space either). I can't imagine it - too claustrophobic - you'd have to shut the cover, and can those things open from inside???

AFAIK that's incorrect - it depends on the airlines' policy. Most airlines allow you to place your infant in a basinet (and older kids) on the floor.

Looks like this will remain one of those "unsolved mysteries" -- nobody seems to know what the rules are. :)

I will say that I have not personally encountered many (any?) on-board floor sleepers -- other than my own children! So maybe it's just not that big an "issue" that needs resolution. I do think I'd find it odd if I saw a full grown adult sleeping on an aircraft floor.

Good one. Though they'll say it's for "security purposes" if nothing else. I can't think of any floor space to sleep on that wouldn't block an aisle or emergency exit unless it's between regular rows, and that seems like it'd be a pretty tight fit unless you're a kid.

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*Governor* Moonbeam :rolleyes:

Brown was governor of California in the 70's, after Reagan. It was waaaay before he became Mayor of Oakland.

My younger brothers and I were allowed to do this regularly on trans-oceanic flights until about 1986 when all the airlines started cracking down. We were old enough that it didn't really matter anymore, so we just stopped. I've not seen anyone get away with it in the last few years; the three who tried (all kids) were made to get back in a seat with a seatbelt.

It's really a safety issue. Setting aside the "non-buckled pax = projectiles" element (the primary concern), someone lying on the floor, particularly a kid, could easily be stepped on accidentally. They could flop an arm/foot into the aisle. Everyone here has dropped something and had it roll forward or back to a different row, I'm sure, and so a sleeper could be struck by a water bottle or a loose bag. During a steep takeoff once I had a laptop slide out of someone's bag in front of me (they put it under a vacant middle), accelerate under the seats and hit me, two rows back, pretty hard in the feet. Not a biggy if you're wearing shoes, but imagine a four-year old's head (though they wouldn't be there during takeoff, I guess).

Bottom line it's a better safe than sorry situation for the airlines. I'm sure that they have little trouble with people dozing on the floor, but the liability concerns are dictating the policy. Darn litigious society... :rolleyes:

In my experience - all US carriers allow infants in bassinets to be placed on the floor when the seatbelt sign is turned off. Though this is really only an option when flying c or f because fo space constraints. Infants without seats are not buckled in on any US carrier (FAA regulation) but have to be held by the parent when the seatbelt sign is on. I've seen toddlers sleep on the floor on ocassion as well (on a variety of carriers).

My kids sleep on the bulkhead floor on WN on longer flights, you can see what it is like on my blog at: http://fishfoto.typepad.com

The Las Vegas posting, scroll down the photos of my kids nice and comfy on the floor.


I have slept on the bulkhead floor of a VS flight and a an LH flight. Both times the flights were fairly empty.

Sleeping on the floor seems like a hassle if you have to get up every time the seatbelt sign comes on (assuming the FAs are enforcing the seatbelt rule).

Myself, I wear my seatbelt at all times, unless I need to be out of my seat for something. There's not much downside, but the upside is that (1) I won't be woken up and told to put it on and (2) I won't be permanently put to sleep by having my head smashed into the ceiling.