Southwest Airlines will require cabins to be prepared for landing earlier in order to protect cabin crew from injuries at the end of each flight. Starting December 4, flight attendants will have to be seated earlier – so they’ll require passengers to prepare for landing when a flight descends to 18,000 feet instead of waiting until 10,000 feet.
According to an internal memo,
As first announced last week in the Leader Update and video by Steve Murtoff and Lee Kinnebrew, VP Flight Operations, significant advancements in our descent procedures that reflect our unwavering commitment to Safety and well-being of our Flight Attendants will begin on December 4.
Inflight Safety and the TWU 556 Health and Safety Committee have been integral in developing these new procedures. Together, we have shaped procedures that prioritize your Safety and are fully aliged with our Company Safety objectives of preventing Flight Attendant Injury.
A summary of the December 4 changes include:
- At top of descent, the Pilots will make a required PA to inform the cabin that the descent phase has begun.
- At 18,000 feet, the Pilots will make one high-low chime, indicating the start of sterile flight deck. This chime serves as your cue to secure the cabin for landing and to be seated and secured in your jumpseats.
This procedural adjustment-Flight Attendants securing the cabin 8,000 feet earlier during descent-reflects years of research and your reporting through our Safety Management System (SMS). The evaluation of thousands of data points from Flight Attendant and Pilot reports paired with information from the Flight Data Analysis Program (FDAP), confirmed that seating our Flight Attendants earlier should reduce Flight Attendant injuries by at least 20%. Inflight and Flight Ops will validate the effectiveness of these new procedures, and if we do not achieve the desired result, we will conitnue to find solutions. We are also committed to sharing updates on these findings periodically.
This change requires final passthroughs of the cabin earlier. The final “please prepare for landing announcement” will come 8,000 feet earlier so that crew can finish their duties and be seated sooner. For customers this means,
- cabin service will end earlier
- beverages will be collected earlier
- seats will have to be placed in their upright and locked position earlier
- carry on bags and personal items will have to be stowed earlier
For awhile I used a convertible notebook instead of my more traditional ultraportable laptop. I don’t care about using a tablet most of the time. The only reason I liked my Lenovo Yoga was so that I could move into tablet mode during takeoff and landing when you’re supposed to have laptops stowed but you’re still permitted to use tablets.
I frequently want to eke out every last minute of productivity from my flights. Even though the size of that device was probably larger than it should have been to continue use, when converted into a tablet that’s the mental bucket crewmembers always put it in and none ever asked me to put it away.
I’ve been back to a Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon, and while noting that not all crew enforce putting laptops away, I always put it away when asked to do so and then just switch to my phone. I don’t like the idea of putting the laptop away earlier than necessary. Here it won’t be for landing as much as ‘earlier so that flight attendants see it’s away before they themselves sit down’.
United has moved to laptops away earlier, too. And flight attendant safety sounds great, especially when flagged as 20% improvement, though this projection remains off a small base and this doesn’t represent the same risk necessarily as abusive passengers or clear air turbulence.
Airlines should retain at least two agents at boarding gates to watch for inebriated customers, rather than the current cost-cutting trend of single agent boarding – the change to preparing the cabin for landing is a way to prioritize safety when it doesn’t cost the airline extra money.
I’d note that putting my laptop away on early on Southwest is maybe fine, because their inflight wifi so significantly lags the industry. These days only Frontier and Allegiant, which don’t offer wifi, are worse.
Just make 30,000 ft. We all know that is just the flight attendants union trying to slink out of “work”.
If this is true, I expect other airlines to adopt the same policy quickly. If they don’t, their insurers will force the issue.
I’m not sure this is really driven by data or other airlines would have seen this earlier.
There is a place for airlines to allow pilots to ask FAs to prepare the cabin early when turbulence might be expected – but not for all flights on a blanket basis.
Other airlines have turbulence prediction software… does WN?
I can’t help but wonder if part of the issue is the number of pilot-related issues at WN and the need for the pilots to be totally focused on flying the plane.
And there is the possibility that WN is trying to placate its FAs.
If WN stands alone in this, it will hurt them if customers have to be ready for landing 10-15 minutes earlier on WN than on other carriers.
This is all about appeasing unionized flight attendants who want to do less work. Sure, 18,000 feet versus 10,000 feet isn’t a big deal on a 2-hour flight. But, it’s a semi-big difference in terms of overall service flow and the amount of time you can do work in-flight on quicker flights of say 1 hour, which may only have 25 minutes of actual cruise time.
I’m really curious to see how this shakes out. We’d have to understand what’s driving those 20% of injuries in the 8000 feet between 18k-10k, and I have serious doubts that we understand that, though I could of course be wrong. My guess is we’ll see most of those injuries now shift into the 8000 feet before 18k feet. We’ll see how it works out in a few years, I suppose.
Glad to see Southwest at least taking action for workplace safety.
Lazy union scum unioning again.
Thanks for sharing this update! It’s interesting to see how airlines are adapting to new safety measures. While it might be inconvenient to stow laptops earlier, I appreciate the focus on passenger safety. I wonder how these changes will affect travel experiences in the long run. Have there been any other recent changes in airline policies that we should be aware of?
This certainly would be ominous if it spread to the majors. That’s certainly plausible, as the FA’s may see this as an opportunity for work reduction (with no loss in salary). For sure I laughed at your comment: “The only reason I liked my Lenovo Yoga was so that I could move into tablet mode during takeoff and landing when you’re supposed to have laptops stowed but you’re still permitted to use tablets”. I’m doing the exact same thing (with an HP 2-in-1) ! Almost always my experience has been the same as yours, that the FA’s will treat it like a tablet (while it’s in tablet mode). That said, an AA FA who clearly knew what it really was made me stow it.
I find it humorous reading the comments about all the “lazy” flight attendants trying to get out of work. Given that most contracts stipulate that pay doesn’t start until the doors are closed which also means you’re not getting paid while you’re sitting at the gate waiting out a weather delay, I wonder what they mean by lazy?
Not to mention all the training and responsibilities that go along with job.
Think about a police officer who sent to sit at a school waiting for a shooting incident. Given how frequently that happens, are they “lazy” too?
At least the flight attendants are providing service while waiting for a problem to happen.
I suspect if any of you who claim “laziness” ever have the misfortune of being in an aircraft incident requiring the flight attendants to take action, you’d probably kiss the ground and thank goodness for all the times they were “lazy”.
Any idea how much earlier in terms of minutes 10000 vs 18000 represents? Tim Dunn states “10 to 15 minutes earlier” but is that accurate?
@HS, your ignorance is blinding. You just compared what a FA does to that of a law enforcement officer. They are not even remotely considered the same job. Maybe you are confused and think the blue shirt TSA agents are law enforcement officers. Either way, you may need to read up on some job descriptions before driveling such nonsense on this here thought leading blog. Good day.
Funny how the rest of the world isn’t afflicted by this issue.
If the passengers behaved better and put away their laptops promptly when asked, maybe the flight attendants won’t have to walk around, tell the inconsiderate passengers to put away their laptops, wait, walk around, and so on. Then, ALL of us can use our laptops more.
The lack of personal responsibility and consideration for others by selfish individuals makes things worse for the rest of us.
Wow, all of these flight “experts” on here. All you “experts” who think FAs are lazy go walk a mile in their shoes, then come back and tell us all about it..
Boy am I glad that I haven’t been on a plane since 2014!!!What a bunch of aggravating things that have been occurring on planes lately!!!And I used to fly all of the time,and was never worried or afraid to fly!!!My how times have changed!!It actually used to be fun and exciting to fly—-but now,with all of the crazy passengers and increasing the number of seats on board a plane and having to feel wedged in like a sardine,you can have flying to your selfish little selves!!!By,the way,I am an above the knee amputee,and use a walker!
Flight attendants have long asked for this safety precaution to be implemented. Flight attendants on a daily basis have been injured while securing the cabin late in the descent. Surely, one would not want someone to be injured over a 4 ounce beverage.
Bummer
@Travelgirl
I don’t have to “walk a mile” in anyone’s shoes. I’m on more flights than I care to be……I see it with my own eyes. The huge pay raise just wasn’t enough was it? This is exactly why I didn’t support any raises because we all knew that once you got them, it would be on to the next silly thing to avoid doing your jobs.
Flying is no longer enjoyable and putting laptops away earlier is a minimal factor. Most are just addicted to their stupid movies. Uncomfortable seats cost airlines revenue.
By doing this flight attendants will no longer have to do a beverage service on the many short Southwest flights. Southwest was pretty good at doing beverage service on routes you’d never see AA flight attendants doing in coach and at times even first.
If the descent is at 1500 ft per minute – that’s just over 5 minutes. Not 10-15 minutes. I’m pretty sure 5 minutes isnt a material difference…
There seems to be a lot of misinformation here in the comments. Or, at least, misguided opinions.
For one thing I believe that these new requirements were inspired by an incident where a WN flight hit severe turbulence during descent and some FAs were injured. So no, it’s not a matter of FAs being “lazy”. As for the comment above regarding what “the rest of the world” does, it’s clear that the commenter hasn’t a clue exactly what the “rest of the world” actually does during flights. Some airlines are far more conservative than US airlines when it comes to how departure and approach are handled. Others are, frankly, quite loose about it and do the minimum. That’s not an accurate gauge of how these procedures should be conducted.
Got it. FA’s have too much power and the huge corporation doesn’t have enough. Sounds right.
@HS, the school resource officer is there to work full time. They respond to crime on campus – thefts, assaults, contraband, vandalism, etc. – and to motor vehicle accidents that happen on the property. But crime prevention is also a big part of the job. They also spend time building relationships with kids so that they will be a person who students can come to in confidence. In many cases, depending how their assignment is structured, they may go off campus to respond to emergencies nearby if they’re among the closest law enforcement personnel.
They are not idly sitting around waiting for a shooting incident to happen..
Southwest flies about 10 round trips daily,.from Burbank to Las Vegas. The time in the air for the 220 mile.trip is less than an hour. This new policy may mean zero service on this very popular route. Definitely zero if there is any turbulence.
As @Nick mentioned…
I’d be interested in a comparison of how these procedures vary by country. (e.g. Europe, Japan, etc.)
The US has a ton of not-invented-here syndrome, and this is apparent in many areas (e.g. public health policy, law enforcement, building codes)
@MASH This is another great reason why many US regions really should have high-speed rail… imagine being able to get up and use the restroom anytime. (SoCal-Vegas should have high-speed rail in a short matter of years!)
My rough math is that this is 18 minutes out versus the current 10. 8 minutes is a non-issue to me. I highly doubt passengers would even notice.
I love how people who don’t work in aviation are trying to blame lazy flight attendants and unions! As someone who has worked in aviation for a couple of decades, and personally had to brace on the floor of the aircraft during turbulence, I beg to differ.
Turbulence gets worse every year. Call it global warming or anything you’d like, but it’s worse than ever. This is by no means in any pilot’s control or something flight attendants are concocting.
Many airlines, including Spirit, have already shifted to final cleanup and cabin compliance at 18,000 feet. This is for the safety of the FAs AND the passengers! Turbulence is no joke and comes out of nowhere.
Stop speaking out of turn if you don’t know what you’re talking about. Good article to help educate the flying public!
Southwest already has the shortest service around. They rarely start until top of climb now. Now they’ll stop earlier? Ugh.
@mikeyb we’ll go with your 8 minute estimate
and i’ll add that the LUV driver culture is whatever gets to the gate fastest
AA will stack inbound dfw traffic all the way up i30 to texarkana and glide them in at 180kts at fl8 to save money on gas – AA are hypermilers
LUV drivers are typically doing 220kts at fl4 heading to dal
when you take off on a LUV flight, set the timer on your cell for the fl10 ding
then do the same on AA flights – you will notice a difference
same thing on landings – LUV drivers will jam on the breaks – AA will roll out and bleed off speed – again – to save money even if it adds time
as for the cabin crew, AA crew have been declaring a sanitary cabin 45 minutes before landing for years way above fl18
happy bird day everyone
I believe that anything to promote safety is a good thing. The two salient points that I feel were under-emphasized in the article are:
– Airlines are unwilling to assume the costs of staffing gates correctly – thus the safety of passengers is impacted as inebriated passengers are more frequently boarded than in the past.
– Southwest WIFI is the most unreliable, poor performing wifi anywhwere. Not a safety issue, but so underreported – I fly frequently and fully more than 50% of the SWA flights either do not have wifi, or wifi is not working for some major portion of the flight.
Isn’t the transition altitude between local barometric pressure and mean sea level (MSL) also 18,000 feet?
Multiple recent close calls may have been related to flight crews being distracted by non-essential activities.
Situational awareness makes at least as much sense as FA injuries.
2 things—
Not often practical to use laptops anymore w small seating spaces
I’m just gonna use speech to text more to get work done. Sure everyone will love that!
It’s absurd that a laptop has to be put away but a tablet or tablet-laptop hybrid doesn’t. I suspect there is zero empirical research that shows a tablet is less dangerous than a laptop.
Some of these comments are disgustingly ignorant and why flying the North American sector is abhoring.
Do people really NEED to use their laptops for 10 more minutes?
Oh, the horror of being without a device for a few minutes!
Just close your eyes and take a power nap.
FAA policy 2013 relating to Personal Electronic Devices
Large PED, such as full-size laptops, must be safely stowed so as not to present a
hazard in the event of severe turbulence, crash forces, or emergency egress.
PED policy should define “small PEDs” and describe how these items may safely
remain powered on, as long as they are secure (not loose) during takeoff and
landing. For example, the passenger may have a small PED secured in-hand, in a
belt or arm holster or in a pant pocket.
PED cords or accessories must not impede emergency egress.
https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Notice/N8900.240.pdf
To Jake: Airliners typically descend at a rate of 2,000 – 3,000 feet per minute. Assuming 2,500 fpm, a descent from 18,000 feet to 10,000 feet would take 3.2 minutes (assuming it’s not a step descent, with leveling off or decreasing the descent rate along the way). So those posting about 10+ minutes are incorrect.
This is already happening.
I fly WN lots and every single flight starts with “the captain has told us to stay seated after take off” followed by “the captain has told us to end service early for landing”
This is about WN commitment to putting staff before customers.
Former FA here. Total BS. Not needed. Looking for passenger control and making their job easier. As if they do anything other than spend time on their cell phones.
@Tim
Not a SWA issue. LH has been doing it for more than a year.
As many have noted, this is merely an attempt to leverage good soundbytes (I. E., flight attendants’ safety) to drive other goals that have clear business benefits. For example,
1. Lower liability and payouts to injured attendants (assuming injury risk declines as a result of this measure)
2. Improved arrival punctuality metrics as a result of getting the cabin ready earlier
3. Higher demand for SouthWest as a result of better punctuality. Higher average ticket pricing as a result
4. Elimination of cabin service on some shorter flights and lower costs as a result
These are just the most obvious ones – there may be many more.
Oh my God you mean we’ll have to Stow our stuff 3 minutes sooner talk about sensationalism reporting and wasting people’s time you are the master of clickbait
Serious question, do some of you only fly Southwest? Because this is not a new thing on other airlines. Pretty sure all mainline airlines already only do a beverage service 60+.min and up. I say “mainline” because I’m not sure about ultra low cost carriers and regional airlines. Why is a water bottle or bringing your own beverage such a foreign concept
Southwest was an amazing competitor who helped make domestic air travel affordable. Unfortunately, I miss the good old days where folks dressed up respectable instead of like they’re going to clean the garage or streetwalk for money. Not much difference between traveling by plane or Greyhound anymore. Now with DEI hiring for Boeing and Commercial Pilots, I feel lucky if I arrive in one piece. Missing out on throwing my throwing extra trash away or having my seat belt checked the last 15 minutes of a flight isn’t going to bother me. BTW, I’ve never heard of any flight attendants being hurt in either an ascending or descending plane before without it either coming apart or crashing. I happen to think Southwest has the best service in general in coach. The real complaints will start with new seating and billing procedures.
If anyone hasn’t seen a ducking muron today, scroll back up and read HS’ comment.
Limited time deal!
@Dave,
Your ignorance and the willingness to flaunt it is astounding.
Safe descent rates are 1kfpm or less
You’re describing a rock falling.
Ostensibly the same rock under which you live.
Read up, shut up or both.
@ FlyOften. Actually FlyOften, Dave is CORRECT regarding the descent rate for turbo jet aircraft (most commercial airliners) when flying the optimum descent profile. Perhaps you are referring to your descent rate of 1000 FPM in your Cessna 172.
Why you choose to be a jackass about Dave’s comment reflects poorly on you. Try to do better. Happy Landings FlyOften.
@George Romney
I just read that SW will not serve any beverages (including H2O) on flights between The Hawaiian Islands. Everyone is to stay seated during the 30-40 minute flights. This is purely A cost saving measure. Elliott will ruin SWA, on his way out he will leave with a huge bonus!
Maybe beverage service should start sooner so it can end sooner.
I have a medical problem that my mouth gets so dry so fast it sticks together without liquids within 30 min. especially when flying.
FA refused to give me a bottle of water when boarding with medical note.
No turbulance.
Why do I have to wait till OVER an hour from boarding the flight to get a bottle of water?
Explaining to passengers at the beginning the what dings mean so passengers can get started.