80ktsClamp

Don't look at them. Most airlines have a policy of having the strobes on.... but we've been down this street before. Deal with it.

gloopy

That is prescious.

Correct answer:

If OAL: Oh, I didn't realize that. My appologies. I'll just scoot back to the middle seat between two fat guys.

If your airline: Ha! That's funny. I believe you believe that. Aaaaaaaaaanywhoo...can I have just one of those seats?

If Yes:

If No: send it up the chain requesting a company memo clarifying this "policy".

450knotOffice

Or suck it up and don't worry about it. Very few flights have even ONE seat open anywhere in the plane, so when the flight is less than full and the gate agents kindly block off that last row, let the FA's enjoy this little unofficial perk.
Jeez guys. How many Grinches do we have on this board? No wonder so many FA's hate us.

lakehouse

This is an AA thing, and it is a bit annoying. I was with my family (2 adults, 1 baby), including the baby in the car seat on a fairly full 737 and put in the last row so we could be together. We all were in regular clothes. First I arrived and all the tray tables were down across both sides. Second I was confronted when getting settled to check the boarding passes, which were in the diaper bag. It was a frantic let me see them now before you get too much stuff all over our seats type approach. She then gave them back and said you might have to move. Once the flight was clear to be full enough we could not move, I thought it was over. We were over an hour into the flight and the kid was out of the car seat so I moved across to the aisle seat across from me to let the kid out. I sat there for about 10 minutes, used the lav, came back and the the tray tables were back down and crew bags on the seats. One guy came back and tried to put the tray table up and the FA ran out of the rear galley saying NO NO NO those are blocked off. That was the only time I saw any FA till the prepare for landing PA. They all just sat in the rear galley talking.

Its a two way street, so I can see the PAX side of this. It is annoying when no one actually sits in the seats. This is coming from someone who had a mother who was a 20+ year EAL FA.

Either way TOTD, I am not sure it meets that.

DeadHead

I know right, why is it always a shock to these guys when the strobes come on from an aircraft taking the runway? They come on anyway when they start the takeoff roll. Is it really that difficult to not stare directly at them? It's like their freaking deer wandering onto to a highway.

That being said, I hate it when guys start trying to micromanage other aircraft on the frequency. Heard once where an RJ commented on how the RJ ahead of him needs to turn his beacon on in a very condescending tone. The other guys basically asked him how to use a beacon when it's deferred. Classic response.
Unless its a safety issue, don't be a tool.

SpeedyVagabond

To heck with them dh. The true tools are the ones who jeopardize their passengers safety so they can be perceived as cool by a bunch of other tools who do the same. To all the PSA and Cacti strobe police in clt - my strobes are coming on. Deal with it. If you don't like them, perhaps you should be a little smarter and not look at them. Y'all might try drinking a little less coffee too.

cactusmike

No, it is an issue. Especially on a night flight where you have the F/As chatting and comparing cat food recipes loudly and with the reading lights on while the revenue passengers are trying to sleep. Go sit in the back galley if that's what you need to do instead of bothering the passengers.

tsquared030

Or, God forbid, actually do your job and walk down the aisle occasionally and actually look at the pax to see if they need anything, rather than the straight ahead, see nothing, I'm ignoring all of you walk.

T

450knotOffice

I've RARELY heard FA's being loud back there during late night flights. I'm not kidding. They're usually very quiet and mindful of the sleeping passengers. At least on AA they are.

As for the strobes on when just sitting there waiting to be cleared to go, are we not not being just a BIT overly dramatic and sanctimonious about jeapordizing public safety? As I said, I NEVER call anybody out on anything on the radio because it's just juvenile and classless, but it IS irritating to see a jet blasting it's strobes while just sitting there. Yes, we ARE smart enough to look away. By the way, almost NOBODY does the strobes on while parked on the runway thing. I'm ORD based - home to UA and AA. Neither airline has many pilots who turn on the strobes while just sitting there - policy or not. Thank you.

Personally, I go out of my way to not shine a bright light into another crew's eyes. Most seem to act the same way. Some obviously don't give a crap, under the guise of "safety". Right.

2StgTurbine

I don't care if FAs sit in the last row of a plane. I do care if they talk loudly in to each other while passengers are trying to sleep. I have been on two early flights in the second to last row with noise canceling headphones and only a few hours of sleep and both times they kept me up. The last one was a few weeks ago and I heard every detail of the FAs four day. I was jumpseating home so didn't care too much, but if I was a paying passenger then I would not be happy.

As far as strobes go... Do you complain when a plane lands with strobes while you are holding short? I remember when I was new to 121 and a captain showed me how annoying it was when someone put strobes on when they entered the runway. I agreed with him but a few weeks later I realized that before he taught me that, I never even noticed. I learned when I was a student pilot not to look at strobes and some how people forget after a few years in 121.

You put strobes lights on when you are on the runway so that landing traffic can see you are on the runway. I have had enough close calls caused by ATC trying to get another departure out in front of us in the daytime to appreciate the AIM aircraft lighting policy.