A seat on my redeye last night was missing a headrest (6C on A320), so I mentioned it to the FA, who called down to maintenance. Maintenance came to check it out, and after everyone was boarded the GA came over to say that due to FAA regulations the seat could not be occupied on the flight (or I assume, at least, takeoff/landing). To make a long story short, a deadheading pilot was moved up to the jumpseat and some folks were reshuffled, the seat was taped off, and after a short delay we were on our way.

I'm curious: how is not having the headrest an FAA violation?

BTW, best exchange of the night between the maintenance guy and the guy on the radio:

Radio: Do you have something to cut the tape with?
Maintenance: I do.
Radio: What?
Maintenance: I DO! I DO!!!
Radio: No, I'm not going to marry you!

Since the topic of the thread -- "Is a missing headrest an FAA violation?" -- is not a UA-specific question, I am moving to Travel Buzz

cblaisd
Moderator, United

Hey, this doesn't seem to be a UA-specific question - it should be moved to Travel Buzz...


I'm sure the head "restraint" is considered a piece of safety equipment, designed to prevent uncontrolled head movement and injury in the event of severe turbulence/crash. So, as with a missing seatbelt, the seat can't be used if the head restraint is missing.

Hmmm... This doesn't seem to be a UA-specific question. How about moving it to Travel Buzz?


Yes, the restraint is a very important safty equipment. Just imagine the head movements during a crash/turbulence in an airplane as well as in your car. You don't want to sit in a car without a headrest, don't you?

Well, I was on a flight once where the seat wouldn't recline. I mentioned it to an FA (by the way, the carrier wasn't Continental). The flight was full. The FA told me that if the seat doesn't recline, it's a 'no go'(?), but that they could put me on a flight the next morning. The flight took off ok. I sat upright during the taxi portion of the flight. I'm sure there are quite a few things that could prevent a flight from departing on time.

Are you suggesting that this thread could have been kept UA-specific after all?

I was on a flight a few years ago when the man across the aisle from me sat down and KLUNK! his armrest fell off into the aisle, leaving a couple of nasty-looking spikes sticking up. The FA tried to fit the armrest back on with no luck. The pilot came back to look at it. A couple of "suits" came on board to look at it. There was a whole lotta lookin' going' on but nothing was working. Finally, a maintenance worker came on board with a large roll of duct tape and proceeded to tape the heck out of the armrest. It looked like a football when he got through with it, but it was going to take a jackhammer to get it loose, so it was judged acceptable and we took off only 15 minutes late. Good 'ol duct tape: it's like "The Force"...it has a dark side and a light side and it holds the universe together.