Please Fasten Your Seatbelts. Thanks.

Since I’m usually the purser, time and time again I catch myself repeating “The captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign, please return to your seats, fasten your seatbelts, and remain seated until it has been turned off.”

How many people actually hear me? All 150. How many people LISTEN to me? about 50.

It’s amazing to me the disregard the traveling public pays to the seatbelt sign. It’s almost as if they think we turn it on and off for no reason, to the point that it means nothing.

Let me give you a background on the seatbelt sign. According to the Federal Aviation Regulations (or FARs), which are the laws that govern airlines and airline passengers, when the seatbelt sign is on, you as a passenger are required to fasten your belt.

Further, when I make the announcement to do so, and you continue to not comply, you have now broken another FAR which states you must obey all crew member instructions. The seatbelt sign is turned on for taxi, take-off, landing and when we are approaching or are currently hitting turbulent weather. These are all phases of flight in which you should not be standing.

When it comes to aircraft taxi, the FAA has imposed restrictions on when an aircraft is allowed to push back and move forward. If any passenger is out of his or her seat, the aircraft must stop and hold position. That passenger is now a safety risk to others and themseleves in the event that they fall.

For take-off and landing, this should be a no brainer. If it’s not safe for anyone to stand, including the flight attendants.

But when it comes to turbulence people seem not to care. I was flying from New York to San Francisco this past weekend when over the midwest we suddenly hit moderate to sever turbulence. I happened to the in the back of the cabin letting one of my other crewmembers eat in the front when it happened. The other FA and I grabbed onto our seats and held on. Orange juice was going everywhere, cups were falls, cans were rolling.. it was a mess for about 10 minutes. During this 10 minutes, 5 people tried to make their way to the bathroom. I couldn’t even stand up, I was shocked they were able to get that far. The FA and I, in unison screamed “go back sit down.” All listened but one. She came all the way to the back to have the other FA say “the seatbelt sign is on” and her response was: “it is?”

YES it is! For one, we weren’t screaming for the fun of it and secondly, did you not realize the struggle you had to keep your balance getting back here.. What are you thinking?!

There seems to be a big lack of understanding on the passengers end as to why we tell you to sit down and remind you over and over again that the seatbelt light is on. One reason is because we have to. It’s our job. We’re not doing it to be mean, or to keep people out of the galley, we have to do it. If there’s an FAA inspector onboard and he sees you get up with the seatbelt light on, and I don’t say anything, I can be fined. We also do it for your safety. If you get injured, guess who has to help you? We do! Even though we told you over and over, we still have to help you. You also pose a safety risk to those around you because in a situation like severe turbulence your body can become a projectile and you can be thrown around the cabin.

And lastly, one of my biggest pet peeves, when a flight attendant tells you “I just have to remind you, the seatbelt sign is on and please return to you seat” asking us “so I can’t go?” is going to get you no where. We are not allowed to give you permission to use the bathroom when the seatbelt sign is on. We cannot stop you from going, but we can’t tell you its ok to go. Why? Because then we’ve just opened up ourselves and the airline to liability. You were in the bathroom “because the flight attendant said I could go.”  Please do not get mad if you ask that question or say “i’ll be quick” and the flight attendant responds again with  ”I just have to remind you, the seatbelt sign is on and please return to you seat”– because that’s all we’re allowed to say.

Now, I will be play devils advocate for a second and say yes, there are times when the seatbelt sign is on because the pilots may have forgotten to turn it off. However, as flight attendants, when it is on we have to obey it and remind everyone to do so as well. The flight attendants can (and I do) call the pilots to ask them if there is projected turbulence or if they simply forgot to turn it off. Then there are those times when the flight attendant requests the seatbelt sign to go on.  It happens very rarely but when there is a lot going on in the galley usually involving a medical emergency. By turning the sign on, you can enforce a sense of order in the cabin, if there might not already be.

One of my other pet peeves about the seatbelt sign comes when I make an announcement 40 minutes prior to landing, that the seatbelt sign will be coming on in 20 minutes as we start our decent. I tell everyone to standup, stretch, put stuff back into the overheads and use the bathroom now. Usually a lot of people do. But when the seatbelt sign comes on, don’t get up and tell me “oh I didn’t know” or ask “so I can’t go to the bathroom?” because I told you 20 minutes ago it was coming, you just chose not to listen to me.

In closing, just sit down. If the sign is on, its on for a reason. Hassling the flight attendants about how long its been on (especially if there has been turbulence and seems to be smooth now) it isn’t going to help fix the situation either because we can only remind you that its on, and ask you to comply. Please remember, if it is a true “emergency” situation, make sure you go to the bathroom.. but realize if you do get injured you are at your own risk because you’ve been reminded and asked for compliance by the crew.