Well, I wasn't going to fly Frontier anyway, but now I'm putting them with United in the "actively avoid" bucket.
What bullshit. We need less tipping, not more.
Employers: it is YOUR job to pay your employees an acceptable wage, not mine. If you need to provide some monetary incentive for employees to do their job (beyond their salary), then use commissions, not tips.
Over the years there has been a push to make the public realize the importance of the flight attendant role, that they aren’t there to serve drinks but to ensure your safety. “Here to save your ass, not kiss it” is one way I’ve heard it put by a FA.
Frontier is a doing a bang up job of reversing that trend with this.
I don't feel my safety is assured when I'm asked to stow my laptop during takeoff. I mostly feel annoyed. Likewise when I have to find a place to stow the bag at my feet simply because I'm in a row without any seats in front of me.
In my opinion, the "safety" provided by flight attendants is rather dramatically overstated. But I'm happy to be told differently; please educate me if you believe the attendants meaningfully increase the safety of the modal passenger's flight.
In any case, I'm absolutely never going to tip a flight attendant. What a regressive policy.
The laptop has enough mass to be a seriously harmful object when unplanned motion happens. This is most likely to happen during take off and or landing.
Same thing goes for your bag.
Technically, in the seats where there are no rows in front, your bag should be in the overhead bin, right along with your laptop, until the aircraft leaves the take off part of it's flight plan. Prior to entering the landing part of the flight plan, both items need to be in the bin, and for the same reasons.
I'm kind of surprised it can just be at your feet in those seats. I never pick them for these reasons. Having to get up, deal with the bin, etc... isn't something I feel like doing personally.
A lot of this basic stuff is the result of simulations and other accumulated flight / empirical data, and the intent is to maximize everyone's safety during high risk flight times.
This is also why trays up, seats not reclined are also required during those two known high risk flight times.
There is the long form word on all this. Links to the appropriate Federal law are just a click away.
Frankly, the flight attendants are required to do what they do, and you as a passenger are required by Federal law to comply with their directives.
I'm not entirely sure you are presenting as a model passenger, however your perception of increased safety and it's overall value, like everyone's, can and will vary considerably. No worries on any of that.
The authority on those things has already made the calls, and in general, those are made to maximize safety as much as can be done.
Exactly. Imho, it is all quite conservative. I do not blame them.
Pretty heavy and visible responsibility.
I am happy to play along, safe as can be managed given current tech and our understanding. That gets better over time.
Once, I got caught with no seat belt in my car. Had kids, and one of then was a mess. I unclicked to reach and deal. Small town cop was on buckle up campaign and I took the seat belt school option. Was only a minute too. Bad timing, but it turned out to be good fortune.
Best class ever! No joke. I, like many, expected a dull, threatening lecture. That did not happen.
They brought a trauma nurse in who talked safety from their point of view. A laptop is a pretty dangerous thing when accellerated. And that guy was just great!
Most people do not properly constrain objects in cars. I had no idea why and how.
That nurse told us the facts, showed us the gore and blood. (Of course, this was diversion after all), but then went through the physics and some math. (Didn't have to, but I am glad they did)
They also went through trauma stats and trauma is the big killer. People are just fragile to a degree we often forget, or are just not aware of.
All in all, I learned a lot! And the FAA rules make perfect sense, given the rough scenario they must manage.
A flying laptop was one of the scenarios the trauma nurse did physics on in a 60 mph crash. It was not pretty. Meat and bone are gonna be impacted.
Oh, and I get it. I too am bothered. I just happend to have gotten that great education. It is an understandable bother, and we all do have options.
If it were me, I would have those trauma people do sessions in every high school. A lot of those kids would be moved. There were a ton in my session. I was one of the older adult minority...
I thanked the nurse afterwards. He said, "first, you should know better, and then thanks. Glad it helped." He went on to say doing those was one of his favorite things to do. Trauma people do not get to share much, and what they can share is powerful. Life saving.
I really did benefit and think about all this very differently.
Let me say being bothered is a very nice problem to have.
Everything you've just talked about is in the context of cars. Unbuckling your seatbelt in a car is very different from unbuckling it in an airplane.
The reason why I am so skeptical is because the rules are applied inconsistently and seem to have questionable benefit. Why am I not required to stow items when the plane experiences significant turbulence? All that's required of me then is to buckle my seatbelt. But the laptop could fly out of my hands, right?
Likewise, the most prevalent danger for which we actually have statistics is people not wearing their seatbelts during takeoff or during turbulence. But flight attendants don't (in my experience) enforce the seatbelt rule. Instead, they enforce the rule which seems far more arbitrary. If turbulence is really significant, I am much more likely to hit my own head on the ceiling of the airplane than I am to inadvertently launch the laptop in the air to hit someone else.
But wait, if a laptop is not allowed while we're taking off then why am I allowed to use a large tablet of approximately the same size? A large textbook? If the issue is the tray, why can't I use the laptop on my lap? The rules are arbitrary and inconsistently applied.
I don't agree with "being bothered is a nice problem to have." That construes the problem as being diminutive because we're prioritizing safety; wearing a seatbelt is not bothersome, but they don't even enforce that on planes. What is bothersome is not being able to use any personal entertainment because of vague "safety" considerations.
So you regularly do not use your airplane seat belt, haven't experienced any real pressure to comply, so the other rules are a bother too?
Seriously? :D (Plz laugh in good spirits. I am. That is good entertainment)
Take off and landing portions of the flight plan are not large amounts of time. Surely you can manage to entertain yourself with one or more of the many options during those times?
The car related info, regarding the potential for trauma is valid. Have you been on a flight where something major has happened? (You may be asked to stow things, for one)
I do not believe you have, by the nature of your questions.
Also, given the nature of your questions, your perception of risk is well below actuals. That does make your position on all this perfectly understandable. I get it. No worries. I think you need answers and should take in the information the FAA and others gladly provide.
Like cars, seat belts are law because of the metrics and analysis done over years of travel. I do think some of those laws could be improved. Many will over time.
Unfortunately for you, other far more qualified people than us have assessed those risks and have come to diffetent conclusions.
Let me just say a model passenger would comply and be ready to assist others, should the need arise.
Fly safe!
Edit: doing that, by the way, is it clear priority over entertainment and other minor things we are talking about here. Let's keep that in mind.
I think some of situations like that are simply caused by standardized POS systems being used.
Some greed was probably involved as well, but I've a few similar situations, where tip was asked in non-tippy scenarios after business adapted new POS system.
Wait till they start asking for tips for pilots as a percentage of your airfare. And charge them up front. No tips? An extra turbulent, puke-your-guts-out flight for you!
Umm, I usually give my flight attendants a $20 tip each. These people have been paying attention to my health, safety, and comfort needs for the last 6 hours. They are always pleasant and friendly. My tip will buy them dinner. I used bring them candy but someone pointed out that they could not eat it during flight because it might be tainted. Sigh.
This is comparable to when you go to a place where you pay before you eat and there is a tip field on the receipt. You simply do not fill it out if you don't want to tip. This is a non-issue. You are perfectly capable of declining to tip someone.
Flight attendants should totally have a tip jar on the way out. I try my hardest to message the company and state why any particular flight attendant was particularly exceptional but it would be nice to have an easier way to say thank you.
BA has "golden tickets" they give to the top tier rewards customers, which you can then hand to any member of BA staff that has made a positive impact for you.
They don't get cash for it, but I understand it goes in their file.
Ironically, I had my golden tickets go unused as most BA staff I've flown with have been average at best for the past few years, even when sitting in business / first.
What bullshit. We need less tipping, not more.
Employers: it is YOUR job to pay your employees an acceptable wage, not mine. If you need to provide some monetary incentive for employees to do their job (beyond their salary), then use commissions, not tips.