FAA abolishes 30-year-old no-smoking sign rule: The stupidest regulation ever
Six months ago, United Airlines was forced to ground its Airbus A321neo fleet and cancel flights for the dumbest reason ever: 14 CFR § 25.791(a).
- U.S. law requires no-smoking signs that can be turned on and off by the crew.
- But there’s no reason to shut down smoking compartments anymore! United set up the first non-smoking area in 1971. Delta was the first US airline to ban smoking worldwide in 1994. And since 2000, no US airline has been allowed to allow smoking.
- Aircraft ordered by US airlines come with No smoking signs that can no longer be turned off.
US regulations require that no-smoking signs can be turned on and off by the crew so that they can be switched onBut that is no longer necessary, and hasn’t been the case for decades. However, the rules remain.
For almost 30 years, airlines have been requesting and obtaining exemptions from this rule when adding new aircraft to their fleet, without any controversy. United simply forgot to apply for this pro forma exemption with the first delivery of its Airbus A321neo.
As a result, United was flying aircraft that did not comply with U.S. regulations. The airline was forced to cancel flights and request an exemption for the A321neo. which they already had for the other aircraft types in their fleet.
This was somewhat embarrassing for the FAA and spurred them to finally propose that airlines be allowed to post no-smoking signs that stay on at all times, rather than requiring crew to turn them on (or obtain an exemption, which is always granted). Here’s the 23-page proposal.
The FAA has long recognized that there is a conflict between the prohibition of smoking on most commercial aircraft and the requirement that manufacturers design aircraft with, and aircraft operators operate with, “no smoking” signs that can be turned on and off. For nearly 30 years, the FAA has addressed this conflict through equivalent level of safety (ELOS)1 determinations and regulatory exemptions2 that allow aircraft to display “no smoking” signs that remain continuously illuminated during flight operations. This rule eliminates the need for such ELOS determinations and regulatory exemptions.
Manufacturers can continue to produce aircraft with on/off or permanently illuminated “No Smoking” signs, and pilots and operators can continue to operate them.
Many things require special approval from the FAA that is not necessarily obvious. For example, American Airlines indicated that they would be adding doors to business class seats on new aircraft when they asked the FAA for an exemption. The FAA initially denied the request because the letterhead American used did not include a mailing address (presumably they could have just asked their own American Airlines Certificate Management Office instead).
Similarly, at the beginning of the pandemic, American needed permission from the FAA to distribute hand sanitizer, even though passengers were allowed to bring their own and the FAA had already ruled it was safe to do so.
By the way, there are still ashtrays on airplanes, even though smoking has been banned for decades. They are usually found in or near the lavatory because passengers are allowed to smoke even though it is prohibited – and they need a place to put out their cigarettes. Without ashtrays, they would most likely stub out their cigarettes in the toilet waste… and light the paper discarded in it.
