FAA's bizarre new rule!

Nope but I am sure it is an emergency exit issue and a prelude to reducing the space between the seats. A full seat pocket would effectively block someone from exiting their seat.

Technically, this has been a rule for a couple of years but was rarely enforced (it would be up to the flight attendants to enforce and since they're so busy playing salesperson, I guess they let this one go.)

But now, the FAA wants the airlines to crack down.

It's done for a few reasons, the main one being safety. In case of emergency or turbulence, anything put in the pocket could become a projectile. (Magazines, safety card and "comfort" bag aside, people put all kinds of things in there.)

Anyway, they are rarely cleaned out and if you took a good look inside, many of the seat back pockets are disgusting. I never put anything in there anyway.

Of course, if no one puts anything in the pocket then there is less work for the cleaning crew--supposedly--and the airline can make sure its shopping magazine is prominently placed in front of you.

My daybag of choice for each particular trip holds what I need on board and goes under the seat in front of me.

Just remember, in airline operations code, "passengers" are referred to as "human cargo." And I'm not kidding.

On recent flights to Phoenix, Reno, Detriot and Boston, flight attendants strictly enforced this rule for the first row passengers (in each section). They did not mention it for other rows.

Nancy, that was little tongue in cheek. Sorry you missed it. Frank II, that is an improvement to refer to "human" cargo. I just thought we were so much livestock.

The airlines can't refer to you as "Livestock" because they may confuse you with real...livestock. Remember, many airlines have planes that just carry cargo--of the non-human kind.

So I agree with the guess that this has to do with people carrying on more luggage. Our last flight (with a charge for checked luggage) was a nightmarish struggle for storage space.

But I wonder if lessons learned from the plane landing in the Hudson contributed...

This may be a safety thing, but I get the sense that this may indeed be a primer by the FAA on behalf of the airlines to help them reduce costs. Who knows? At least half of FAA’s dual mandate is to promote air travel, and I have always felt that the safety part of their role gets a back seat to making money for the carriers. I understand that Ryanair no longer has seatback pockets…there’s no reason to believe that the U.S. carriers will cease looking for more efficiencies at the expense of passengers, similar to some of the moves Ryanair has made. BTW, what is one to do if they get sick on Ryanair…vomit in the aisle…where do they stow the barf bag? And, what do they charge for that? I don't want to imply that the FAA isn't concerned about safety...just makes me wonder sometimes.

Oh, goody! Does this mean when I reach into the seat back pocket to get the magazine out, I won't find any more candy wrappers, pre-chewed gum, or other disgusting items? 'Cause it would be worth it for that!

Well Ashley,, maybe if they actually cleaned the planes out inbetween flights,, that would help.. LOL

I like putting my glasses and reading material there. It does not make it stick out too much so I don't see a problem. I can see if it made pocket stick out so that a person couldn't get by that would be dangerous,, BUT , who are we kidding,, even with pockets empty and no one sitting in seat its hard to squeeze into window or middle seats as airlines pack us in like sardines.

Really though, now that I think of it, , its kind fo a joke citing safety reasons,, like its not the highly flammable fabrics they use on the interior of planes that kill us,( I saw some video on a tv documentry once that was pretty terrifying) , no,, its us all stuck in our seats.. cause of excess pocket stuffers.. LOL

I seriously doubt there’s any cleaning happening with those seatback pockets. Flight attendants may remove obvious trash, such as a water bottle or newspaper sticking out, but nobody’s doing any deep cleaning between flights to remove toenail clippings, snotty tissues, dirty diapers, rotting food, whatever. Yeah, it’s definitely disgusting and gross. Forget about catching Swine Flu…there’s an entire world of potential plague, fever, and other dangerous illness lurking in that pocket. Well, maybe it’s not that bad, but it is nasty!

Wow,, Michael,, thanks for that,, I will never be able to reach into my seat pocket again without those horrid thoughts popping into my mind.. LOL

Sorry about that…it does sort of make you think twice about putting your own stuff in there or taking out SkyMall or the airline’s magazine. I’m sure we could come up with a really nasty list of things that COULD be in there. That might be a fun, if not stomach-churning, list. :)

Ryanair are ahead of the game here- there are no seat pockets at all on most of their planes!