First of all, this is a great place to stow a laptop when you're in a bulkhead seat, second, exactly WHERE do you think the "thief" is going to hide it??? :rolleyes:

Dave

The FAA has not approved seatback pockets for carryon stowage.

And no one is suggesting that a carry-on be stored in the pocket. The announcement varies depending on the carrier, but IME UA and their Express carriers are the strictest about this policy. There's no way that a paperback book is any more of a danger than the magazine that the airline puts in there. Yet one is officially allowed and the other isn't?? :confused:

I actually understand the no laptops rule as they are heavy and can fly around or break the pouch, but the recent move towards "absolutely nothing at all ever" in the pouch is ridiculous.

If I know I'm going to want my laptop I put it under the seat in front of me, often up on its edge if my feet are also extended.

I'm not saying I disagree with the rule. I was only asking for it's purpose and it's been explained. I hope I never experience anything remotely close to Code 6 turbulence.

Excuse me, but I didn't say, "what about ME." I said, "I understand there is a rule against it and I will observe the rule." With all due respect, do you simply assume the worst about all of your passengers? I'm not looking for an argument, just an explanation.

But SkyMall is ok?

I know, I agree with you... but one can only wonder...

To be fair, I think the laptop would become more of a flying projectile when it's on the lap during bad turbulence than in a seatback pocket. But I heard it's against the rules so who knows.

The point is, your FA's can't go through the cabin and determine individually which items are okay and which aren't. Nevermind that the seatback pockets were NOT designed to hold anything more than the few pieces of reading material that the Airline has placed there. They're also designed to be tight against the seatback so as not to interfere with your egress path. The seats are also crash testsed with a "closed" seatback pocket, not one filled with other random items.

In the end it's not for the pax to decide what's okay, there is a blanket rule and it's VERY easy to obey. MANY of the rules pax don't understand have a very good reason behind them and the reason most people question them is that we've moved from respecting that rules exist for a reason to questioning everything under the sun that inconveniences us. Personally I understand most if not ALL of these rules thank to some training with the FAA and their Cabin Safety Specialists and when I'm at work I would much rather focus my energies on providing great service, smiling, chatting with pax, etc than to have to fight with someone who feels the need to challenge everything.

*YES... some FA's make up their own rules and those are the stories you all throw at any response I give.... but THOSE FA'a aside**

We don't make this stuff up. It's real, it serves a purpose and if you don't know why, just ask, but don't speculate and then spread half-truths around. If you fly enough then you should know the game.

I'm almost certain if I put my laptop in the seatback pocket, one flight I'd walk off the plane without it. I've done that a couple of times with paperbacks. For the same reason my iPod doesn't go in there, either!

I wouldn’t dismiss their actions so casually. Presumably, they have training and experience commensurate with yours.

You've already indicated that some do make this stuff up, but most who fly enough already know that pretty well. So that isn't in dispute.

Also not in dispute is the idea that rules exists for a reason. If you don’t know why, ask you say. That's fine, but in the same breath you make it seem as though asking is tantamount to challenging. Despite that fact that some frequent travelers spend more time in the air than some FA's do, questions will arise from time to time.

** "some" travelers sure, personally I average 16 legs per week. That's 16 takeoffs, 16 landings, 16 demos, 32 times securing the cabin. I've never met any traveler who travels that much.**

My entire point being that people didn't always question everything but now if it doesn't suit our own ideas of how things should be then people want to know why. Not WHY can't this go there, but more WHY can't I put this there because I need it or have done it before. If people can understand that rules exist for a reason then clearly they would respect that AND the fact that it's part of my job to see to it that those rules are complied with.

The requirement is for taxi, takeoff and landing where laptops are required to be stowed.

The rule has nothing to do with laptops and is not new. The rule specifies that passenger items must be stowed for taxi, takeoff and landing and the seatback pocket is not an approved stowage location. None of a passenger's belongings are allowed in the seatback pocket during taxi, takeoff and landing. The FAA has recently issued new guidance to the airlines which emphasised this requirement.

All passenger belongings are carry-on items and are excluded from being stored in the seatback pocket during taxi, takeoff and landing. The FAA regulation does not provide any exceptions no matter how small or light the item may be.

Another rule that doesn't make sense...it's OK to put the laptop under the seat where it has almost no restriction from becoming a turbulence-driven projectile, but it's not OK to place it in seatback pocket where it is held relatively snugly.

Your point is taken, albeit with prejudice. As easily as you recall the times people didn’t always question everything, it’s just as easy to argue that people didn’t always feel as heavily and, in fact - overly laden down with rules, regulations, and restrictions as they are today. And yet, the majority buck up and comply. Blindly assuming that somewhere, there is some logic or rationale behind it. But even as they comply, Heaven forbid they ask without it being construed as a mutiny or a threat to your authority.

You may have some valid points in a very broad sense, but I can’t see where they applied here. You freely wrote-off the question as no more than an attempt to challenge the FA’s authority which from what I can see, no one here has done. A very unfair characterization, IMHO. I'll leave you to it.

At least in the US, travelers are now faced with all sorts of genuine and would-be authority figures who make up rules whenever it suits them to do so. The overwhelming majority of FAs, perhaps even 90%, are hard-working, customer-oriented people. However, with all the flying you've done, I'm sure you've seen FAs who make up "rules" on the spot, whose reflexive response to any passenger request is, "no," and whose explanation for a "rule" is, "Because I said. If you don't comply I'll you removed by security."

Airline travel used to be fun and relaxing. Now it's war thanks to TSA and YOUR employer. I know airline management treats flight crews poorly in every respect. However, passengers are not responsible for that and, as far as that goes, my employer treated me poorly as well (I now do something else).

I agree that passengers probably question the regulations and rules far more frequently. However, part of this seems to be in response to FAs, pilots, security, whoever making up rules and attributing them to the TSA, FAA, etc..

Passengers, especially very frequent flyers are on to the game. When we're told 45 minutes before landing that 'we're at the altitude where portable electronics must be shut off', we just don't buy it. When it we're told that GPS devices are 'outlawed' by the FAA, it makes people question every 'rule' that is quoted.

When you come to FT, you mostly get the correct answer:D