Skywest Cabin Nazi?????

[The_Skids]

I had a couple of flights today coming back from a vacation. The tickets were through United, but the last leg of it was on a Skywest operated flight in a CRJ 700. I was traveling with a 4 year old and she had a car seat that we carried onto the plane. We were told taxiing out that the car seat was against FAA regulations and that she could not sit in it. The plane stopped and the flight attendant took the car seat and put it in an empty seat in the front of the airplane.

My question is, was she right in doing that? I know the folks around us that had to suffer 20 minutes of crying thought that it was not right.

I have never heard of a regulation on the type of car seat that can be used, but I have only flown corporate.

The car seat did not have shoulder harnesses and used the seat belt from the seat.

Either way, the woman was extremely rude and seemed like she just had to express her power some how. It wouldn't have been as bad if one of the 4 other legs that we had been on in the previous week had done the same thing. Each time someone that took our tickets asked if we were going to check the seat, we just said she would sit in it and no one questioned anything.

Is this a case of a cabin nazi, or is there an FAA regulation against car seat without shoulder restraints?

 

[aerobat21]

specific model make and number would help

 

[The_Skids]

Of the seat or the flight?

 

[Blucher]

If the seat doesn't have a sticker/label on it that specifically says "FAA approved" then it can't be used.

 

[CA1900]

Yup. Unless it's "approved for aircraft," it's a no-go. And that goes for corporate aircraft, too.

This should have been resolved before the aircraft moved, however.

 

[SSDD]

They should have caught it before you taxied out, BUT, to be used on a commercial flight, the seat must have a sticker as mentioned above. Going by what you stated that the seat does not have a shoulder harness, I would guess that its not approved.

As I said, it should have been caught as you boarded, but better late than never.

BTW I don't think you can blame your child crying for 20 minutes on the flight attendant. She was just doing her job.

 

[Mike man]

BTW I don't think you can blame your child crying for 20 minutes on the flight attendant.

Sure he can...in the eyes of the child she was happy then the FA came and took what was making her happy, and thus causing the crying.

Like others said and if the FA had been doing her job prior to the child getting comfy and bothered to check the seat as they boarded the child would not be crying because of the FA.

 

[Jeff Helgeson]

seat

If the seat does not have shoulder straps, it is a booster seat, not a car seat. Car seats need to be FAA approved and should have the label on the side. Some of the manufactures are putting the FAA approved in the manual that comes with seat and not on the seat itself. It sounds like your seat is not approved and the F/A was just doing her job.

 

[acaTerry]

I had a couple of flights today coming back from a vacation. The tickets were through United, but the last leg of it was on a Skywest operated flight in a CRJ 700. I was traveling with a 4 year old and she had a car seat that we carried onto the plane. We were told taxiing out that the car seat was against FAA regulations and that she could not sit in it. The plane stopped and the flight attendant took the car seat and put it in an empty seat in the front of the airplane.

My question is, was she right in doing that? I know the folks around us that had to suffer 20 minutes of crying thought that it was not right.

I have never heard of a regulation on the type of car seat that can be used, but I have only flown corporate.

The car seat did not have shoulder harnesses and used the seat belt from the seat.

Either way, the woman was extremely rude and seemed like she just had to express her power some how. It wouldn't have been as bad if one of the 4 other legs that we had been on in the previous week had done the same thing. Each time someone that took our tickets asked if we were going to check the seat, we just said she would sit in it and no one questioned anything.

Is this a case of a cabin nazi, or is there an FAA regulation against car seat without shoulder restraints?

Probably the same one who had a tape measure and made me check my 23" bag because it was 1 inch too long...despite having a total measurement of less than the FAA approved 45 linear inches.

 

[DoinTime]

Probably the same one who had a tape measure and made me check my 23" bag because it was 1 inch too long...despite having a total measurement of less than the FAA approved 45 linear inches.

FAA approval means nothing because airlines have policies that are more restrictive. Almost every airline has a posted 22" limit. You should know that and you should have bought a bag that fit these parameters if you didn't want trouble.

 

[sunlitpath]

Don't blame the FA. She is just doing her job, and if the FAA saw her ignore your non-approved car seat, then she would be in trouble. The airlines don't exist to cater to your special needs, and tell your child to stop crying; it's annoying all passengers.

 

[N813CA]

Fly Delta and not Skywest. They suck.

 

[ehaecker]

Yeah 'cause Delta FA's are never bitches!

 

[Southern Cross]

It's been a while since I've had to deal with this but here goes.

Most later model car seats approved for aircraft use will have two statements on them. The exact wording escapes me but it is in line with what earlier posters have said. Older model car seats have a different type of labeling that has to be checked. The year the car seat was made determines which labeling is appropriate. The exact wording and labeling is laid out in various company manuals.

When I was flying 19 seaters, I very seldom ran into car seats that didn't meet the requirements but when I did the conversation usually turned into "well the last two airlines let me use it..."

My understanding is that seats that don't have the proper labeling do not meet the required safety criteria (or maybe haven't been tested, I don't really know). I do know that I wouldn't want my kid using one.

 

[samballs]

Fly Delta and not Skywest. They suck.

How do you get on a DL flight and not a regional, DL planes don't fly to much domestically.

 

[B727FA]

The car seat did not have shoulder harnesses and used the seat belt from the seat...Is this a case of a cabin nazi, or is there an FAA regulation against car seat without shoulder restraints?

The FA was correct. Must have a hard back, hard seat, harness & FMVSS. Check out FAR 121.311/.317 or it may have "FAA approved in accordance with 14 CFR 21.305(d) approved for aircraft use only."

If the seat is from another country it might carry the UN "Circle E" symbol.

There are a couple of other things you can look for that are date specific (like pre-1985) and almost never seen anymore.

 

[B727FA]

RE: the assumption/accusation that the FA "wasn't doing her job." The A/C was a 700 model and there's a good chance the FA who "was the Nazi" was the "B" FA who saw the kid during taxi-out while coming forward for her demo. Awfully quick to judge folks...

 

[dooork]

She was doing her job.
Seems like any car seat with shoulder harness would be safer than in your arms.

 

[EngineOut]

I had a couple of flights today coming back from a vacation. The tickets were through United, but the last leg of it was on a Skywest operated flight in a CRJ 700. I was traveling with a 4 year old and she had a car seat that we carried onto the plane. We were told taxiing out that the car seat was against FAA regulations and that she could not sit in it. The plane stopped and the flight attendant took the car seat and put it in an empty seat in the front of the airplane.

My question is, was she right in doing that? I know the folks around us that had to suffer 20 minutes of crying thought that it was not right.

I have never heard of a regulation on the type of car seat that can be used, but I have only flown corporate.

The car seat did not have shoulder harnesses and used the seat belt from the seat.

Either way, the woman was extremely rude and seemed like she just had to express her power some how. It wouldn't have been as bad if one of the 4 other legs that we had been on in the previous week had done the same thing. Each time someone that took our tickets asked if we were going to check the seat, we just said she would sit in it and no one questioned anything.

Is this a case of a cabin nazi, or is there an FAA regulation against car seat without shoulder restraints?

Was this a flight from Denver to Huntsville or Memphis?

 

[JAFI]

I went to the faa.gov site and searched for "approved child seat" = = guess what the first hit was....


http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/crs/