Charging mobile

Hey guys

I flew in from India earlier in the week and had an interesting conversation with the senior cabin person on the flight..

I was in the new upper class suite on the a330 and my mobile was dead. Given my wife hasn't been well I wanted to charge my phone by plugging it into the USB point for a little while. I've done this maybe 20 times in the last year without anyone saying anything as I fly all the time in upper.

Anyway on this flight the senior flight person spotted me and had a right go at me saying it was clear in her announcements that was banned. I was taken aback partly due to her rudeness, but also as I've seen loads of people do it on a regular basis and cabin crew have never said anything.

What is the official position on this? I would have thought this is a good thing for upper class to allow. If it isnt allowed why do so many people do it and why do the crews not stop it.

I respected the ladies request but got to say as people go she's the worst cabin leader I've seen. She only backed down talking rudely when I pointed out I was a gold card...

Nick

Apparently if left unattended to charge they can spontaneously burst into flames so it is verboten.

Wow, had a similarly interesting run in with a moody FSM a few months back.. she ranted about how she disliked FFs and pax getting familiar with everyone/everything. She was extremely rude and confrontational, wonder if it was the same one.

Official position is that it is perfectly acceptable to plug the devices in if you are using them, but not if the sole purpose is to charge them.

Still no excuse for a rude rant though, if I were you I would send a message off to CS giving them an account of what happened.

If this was the same crew member I had the misfortune of dealing with then it sounds like she has still not learned how to speak to other human beings n( n(

[Neil]

The official policy regarding plugging devices in is that the power is supplied to run the device not charge the device, so okay if you are using say a laptop while having it plugged in, but you can't do like you were trying and just plug a phone in and leave it to charge. The power supply is very low anyway so it would take a very long time to charge.

The FSM shouldn't have made her request in a rude manner, and if she was rude as you say then I would write to VS about that.

Apparently if left unattended to charge they can spontaneously burst into flames so it is verboten.

You may be cynical but clearly any electronic device can overheat if it's left plugged into the mains. The iPad I'm typing this on gets very warm when it's charging for instance.

Clearly that's not a big issue if I'm using it but if, say, I leave it charging and fall asleep I for one would rather it didn't catch fire in a confined space with no immediate exits at 39,000 feet, however small the risk.

Airlines don't generally make up safety rules for the hell of it. They exist for a reason - even if the chance of a tragedy happening is tiny.

As for the OP's complaint, there's a fine line between rudeness (not acceptable) and assertiveness when it comes to enforcing safety rules (perfectly acceptable if passengers have blatantly ignored a reasonable request). "Everyone else does it" is no excuse.

I'm in no way implying this happened here, but I can imagine some crew DO get very irritated by the attitudes of some FFs who think safety rules don't apply to them because obviously they know best.

OP there is no excuse for rudeness but why the DYKWIA comment?

If there's a safety aspect then obviously the rule is the right one. The point I find quite interesting is it's quite widely broken esp when I've been on the overnight flying back from New York..

I always wait to charge mine up when I'm knapping... Put the iPhone on charge plug my ear phones in and "listen to my music" nowt they can do! Can't proove I'm not listening to my music.

Naughty yes but if there's a rule to break I find the way!

[honey lamb]

I always wait to charge mine up when I'm knapping... Put the iPhone on charge plug my ear phones in and "listen to my music" nowt they can do! Can't proove I'm not listening to my music.

Naughty yes but if there's a rule to break I find the way!

That's fine until your iPhone fries - as my iPod did v( and I'd only just connected it to listen to it

@gumshoe - I am cynical because if it is unsafe it is unsafe, period. To me it is a daft rule for a number of reasons, the main one being that with mine plugged in, listening to music or watching video, I will fall asleep at some stage - but this does not count as "charging your phone". In theory I could wake up to a raging inferno.

If there is any risk of fire through this then ban it totally.

I respected the ladies request but got to say as people go she's the worst cabin leader I've seen. She only backed down talking rudely when I pointed out I was a gold card...

Nick

I'm very sympathetic to your complaints but personally I think status is neither here nor there. They shouldn't be rude to anyone, and (equally) higher status passengers should not expect different safety rules from the rest.

On a flight I was on earlier this month the stewardess in UC kept telling me 3 times that a USB connection for iphones/ipads etc didn't exist in ANY virgin planes when I discovered the UC cabin on this flught did only have one of those old style ones where you need a adapter for or so. I told her many times I have used USB connection for phone in loads of planes but she was 100% sure ... Newbie I guess.

The ports on a plane only offer a minimal current so you will only ever get a slow trickle charge and if the current is not high enough for your device, it will not charge at all.

I recall a flight where we were told not to use the ports for charging devices - and wondered how people would cope with that. Because they would have to remove their batteries or not plug them in order to comply. (and iPhones can't remove their batteries!)

I would have thought if there is a serious concern then phone manufacturers should add something to "airplane mode" that also prevents the device from charging whilst in this mode.

The left hand does not know what the right hand is saying... !

From the "Our new Upper Class Suite" page of the VS website...
Each suite has a 12.1 inch touchscreen monitor with a touchscreen handset, loaded with our brand new entertainment system called JAM. Connect your phone, USB stick or tablet to watch, read or listen to your own content, plus charge your device

Didn't think the system had been called JAM for a while now either... nice to see the website is as up to date as ever!

quite old but interesting read! especially the recommendations.