Seat belt sign

[jrSWA]

Hello. Is anyone else irritated about the seatbelt sign always being on?

Yesterday I flew on a 3 hour 20 minute flight. The seatbelt sign was on for over 2 hours. For at least 1 hour and 50 minutes of that 2 hours there were clear blue skies and an absolutely smooth flight above any clouds.

After an hour os so, people understandbly started ignoring it and used the bathroom, etc. so they wouldn't pee in their seats!

It also seems that on every flight, the pilots put on the seatbelt sign when the service staff is serving drinks, maybe to keep the aisles clear for them?

I and everyone knows there may be unexpected turbulence, but this is uncalled for. For instance, we recently took a British Air flight round trip to London. The seatbelt sign for the total 18 hours of flying was on only for takeoff and landing, maybe 1 hour out of the 18 hours.

At SW the seatbelt sign is always on, so it is becoming meaningless.

I presume they do this for liability reasons "If you are hurt it's not our fault, it's yours". But it has gone to extreme and having it on on smooyh flights makes passengers ignore it. I always thought SW put the customer first. Now it appears they put them first and their attorneys first. It is very irritating.

[SB]

I keep noticing that the seatbelt signs go on for what seems like no reason at all, no turbulence —only drink prep going on— and are left on FOREVER. I guess we can send our medical bills for treating UTI’s to Southwest now? Or, will “bedpans,” “go girls,” plastic bags, bushes, doggie poop bags and catheters soon be provided upon boarding? 

Seriously, this is not the customer service I am used to from SW. 

[FWHITE02]

When I complained to the FA on my last flight, she said the captain was expecting turbulence so they were clearing the cabin early.  Why does this always happen on SW flights that are later in the day?  She asked twice if I wanted to speak to the pilot.  Twice, I said no, in my opinion, the captains are complicit in making the FA's job easier.  The Canadian Aviation Board has addressed this and recommends avoiding because it is HURTING safety.  By the way, the FA and the Captain and two people from the gate ambushed me on my way off the flight.

[dfwskier]

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@FWHITE02 wrote:

When I complained to the FA on my last flight, she said the captain was expecting turbulence so they were clearing the cabin early.  Why does this always happen on SW flights that are later in the day? 

 .

It happens later in the day for all airlines, not just SW. Why? The sun heats the air differently in different places and sometimes creates rain clouds which are inherently 

turbulence  causing. Early in the day or at nite that phenomenon is less pronounced

She asked twice if I wanted to speak to the pilot.  Twice, I said no, in my opinion, the captains are complicit in making the FA's job easier.  The Canadian Aviation Board has addressed this and recommends avoiding because it is HURTING safety.  By the way, the FA and the Captain and two people from the gate ambushed me on my way off the flight.

How were you "ambushed?"

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[NicoleAshley]

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[Splat]

I don't travel all that much, but recently got back from a 4 hour flight.  The seatbelt sign was on for 80 percent of the flight, both legs.  It was totally unnecessary as the clouds were stratus, flat, and uniform.  Turbulence was very mild, yet the seatbelt sign came on and stayed on through landing.

Here is my working hypothesis: it all relates to money, specifically insurance premiums Southwest pays for passenger liability.  My guess is that their insurance company jacked rates with all the recent news of passengers being thrown about from clear air turbulence and requiring hospitalization.  I'm guessing here; perhaps the insurance company said, if you keep the seatbelt sign on X percent of the time, your rate will go down significantly.

Communication came down from upper management and the pilots followed orders.

[SoCalFlyer97]

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@Splat wrote:

I don't travel all that much, but recently got back from a 4 hour flight.  The seatbelt sign was on for 80 percent of the flight, both legs.  It was totally unnecessary as the clouds were stratus, flat, and uniform.  Turbulence was very mild, yet the seatbelt sign came on and stayed on through landing.

Here is my working hypothesis: it all relates to money, specifically insurance premiums Southwest pays for passenger liability.  My guess is that their insurance company jacked rates with all the recent news of passengers being thrown about from clear air turbulence and requiring hospitalization.  I'm guessing here; perhaps the insurance company said, if you keep the seatbelt sign on X percent of the time, your rate will go down significantly.

Communication came down from upper management and the pilots followed orders.

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Interesting analysis. Yes, home and car insurance rates for sure went through a steep inflationary cycle this summer (we all felt it with our wallets) but not sure if this is true for liability insurance. However, I think you are correct that having the seat belt light on even through the "smoothest" of forecasted turbulence is to protect the airline from liability (e.g. if one gets up to go to the bathroom when the seatbelt light is on, they do so at their own risk--if the plane does in fact "hit" a bump and that person trips, they cannot hold SW liable if the sign is on). I don't think however having the sign on for X-amount of time has a direct role of how rates are determined. Communication related to safety and turbulence is also done with Air Traffic Control and other pilots. The communication from the management would be err on the side of caution and keep the light on if pilots suspect any risks.

Here's an interesting read from On Mile at a Time on the policies of this little iconic light that we see on the cabin ceiling:

https://onemileatatime.com/insights/airlines-seatbelt-sign-policies/

[bec102896]

I’ve had some flights where the pilot tries to turn the sign off but then we hit turbulence within 5min of the sign going off so back on it goes. My most recent flight earlier this week the sign was on the whole 2 hour flight but it was 90% turbulence so it made sense to me why it was on. I personally don’t think the pilots just leave it on to upset us they just go off of what they are told by other pilots/FAA if there is a report of turbulence then they will probably leave it on that’s why you might hear the pilot say “we are going to have the Flight Attendants stay seated a little longer as we are expecting some bumps as we climb to our cruising altitude” same with final decent. 

-Blake