United Grounds Fleet of Planes As a result of Our ‘No Smoking’ Signal Legislation Is Ridiculous

After causing a stir by mysteriously grounding its new Airbus A321neo planes on Monday, United Airways needs folks to know the choice has nothing to do with security and isn’t even that thrilling. Moderately, it has to do with the aircrafts’ “No Smoking” indicators, that are required by a 1990 regulation to be operated by the flight crew.

That’s not the case on the A321neo, which has software program that retains the “No Smoking” signal turned on constantly throughout flights, like many different plane in United’s fleet. In 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration permitted United’s request for an exemption to the federal regulation requiring the flight crew to manually function the “No Smoking” signal.

There’s only one downside. United’s 2020 exemption solely applies to the plane it listed in its request at the moment, which didn’t embody the A321neo. United solely lately obtained the primary fashions of its order of A321neos and began flying them final December.

In an announcement to Gizmodo, United confirmed that it had grounded all 5 of its A321neos on Monday whereas it seeks permission to add the aircraft to its existing exemption. The corporate added that the FAA has given United permission to fly its fleet of A321neos whereas the company evaluates the airline’s request. It’s unclear why United waited till this week to submit its exemption request for the A321neos.

“Because the FAA famous, this isn’t a security of flight difficulty. Our 5 A321neos had been briefly out of service on Monday whereas we labored via this difficulty with the FAA, leading to a handful of delays however no cancellations as we swapped that flying to different plane varieties in an effort to reduce disruption for our prospects,” United said.

An FAA spokesperson instructed Gizmodo that the company was working shortly to resolve a non-safety difficulty that United had reported on its A321neos.

In its 2020 approval of United’s request for an exemption, the FAA famous that the “No Smoking” signal requirement was instituted when smoking was permitted on some flights at sure occasions, however that rules had clearly modified.

“The FAA finds that ‘No Smoking’ indicators which can be robotically and constantly illuminated are as secure as ‘No Smoking’ indicators which may be illuminated solely at sure occasions,” the FAA stated at the moment. “A constantly illuminated ‘No Smoking’ signal that’s legible to every individual seated within the cabin achieves the aim of informing occupants of the smoking prohibition.”

On condition that smoking on planes has been banned in the U.S. in some form since no less than the Eighties—with the outright ban on the apply coming in 2000—having a draconian regulation that governs who can activate the “No Smoking” check in 2024 appears really ridiculous. But, contemplating how unproductive lawmakers in Congress may be, it’s no shock that they’ve forgotten to alter it.

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