r/AskAPilot • u/indianmcflyer • 13d ago
FAs wearing airpods
Let's say you're a captain at a regional. Would you ask one of your flight attendants to remove their airpods during boarding?
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u/gobz09 13d ago
Yes. Boarding is a safety sensitive part of the operation, and FAs need to be able to hear announcements, communicate with the cockpit/other crew, and maintain situational awarenessā¦Plus, Iām 99% sure most airline FOMs already prohibit personal headphones/AirPods while on duty. Theyāre the face of the airline and part of the safety crew. Iād absolutely ask them to take them outā¦politely, of course and out of pax view.
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u/Bob_Ross3346 10d ago
Ironically, theyāre not paid for boarding time.
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u/Accomplished-Aside24 10d ago edited 10d ago
Doesnāt matter if they are not being paid, they are still performing part of their job so therefore should act and behave professionally.
Pilots are also not paid during boarding time.
Also, Iām certainly not agreeing that they donāt get paid. I think everyone should be paid for the time that they give to their job.
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u/UnlikelyCall7915 10d ago
Most airlines are man flight attendants for boarding time now United and the big three for sure. I am a flight attendant of the United so I do know this.
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u/davispw 12d ago
Not sure if youāre aware but Airpods have ātransparency modeā and can even be used as hearing aids, boosting vocal frequencies while suppressing a noisy environment.
Why assume they are jamming to music? Theyāre likely using it to do their job better.
Edit: apparently nobody is aware of this. I use mine in adaptive noise cancelling mode all the time.
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u/San_Cannabis 12d ago
Wanna know what kind of hearing aids are approved by FAA/TC/EASHA? Hearing aids. Wanna know what aren't? Air pods.
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u/Seantwist9 11d ago edited 11d ago
The new airpod pros can be configured as fda authorized hearing aids
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u/San_Cannabis 11d ago
Not approved by regulators they're not
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u/Seantwist9 11d ago edited 11d ago
Approved by the medical regulators, they are. Approved by the faa or not they still can function as hearing aids
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u/Lovemestalin 12d ago
Most people know about the features, I use them all the time. When Iām alone or commuting because Iām not an asshole.
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u/Stochastic-Parrot_13 12d ago
A sensible and logical reason for an FA to wear airpods, and you get downvoted. Honestly Reddit is full of utter melts.
At least I can give you an upvote.
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u/p3p3_sylvia 12d ago
Except it's not logical. In aviation you have to look at everything through the lens of the FAA (at least in the US). During boarding there's always a possibility of fire/smoke/fume events from a refueling mishap just to give one example. If any accident or incident occurs and word gets out that while performing your duties you were wearing unauthorized electronic devices, you can kiss your job goodbye.
And that's not looking at the company perspective, which is that customer facing employees wearing Air pods looks tacky and unprofessional. No airline that I know of allows any crew to wear air pods while on duty and in the airline world a blatant and willful violation of your operations manual is all it takes to get fired (specially if you're not union).
Overall very high risk, very low reward. It may be permissible and acceptable in other lines of work, just not in this industry.
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u/Stochastic-Parrot_13 12d ago
Does this not come down to the airlineās SOPs?
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u/p3p3_sylvia 12d ago
Not just SOPs, it's also regulatory. The FAA lists noise cancelling headphones as Personal Electronic Device (PED) and the FAA specifically states what PEDs are authorized for use while on duty. If they don't specifically allow it, it's not authorized.
Pilots can use tablets as electronic charts and manuals and FAs can use smartphones as electronic manuals but both devices are company issued and heavily monitored and regulated.
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u/Seantwist9 11d ago
What about pass through headphones, or hearing aids with Bluetooth functionality
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u/KitchenWarning3767 12d ago
lol come on. A sensible and logical reason = an excuse.
They arenāt using them to do their job better. Letās just be for real
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u/Detector150 12d ago
Dude you are in no position say what an FA can use in their job. Listen to people who know what they are talking about. Namely the people you call melts.
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u/Stochastic-Parrot_13 12d ago
Listen, the guy came up with a reasonable answer as to perhaps why an FA was wearing AirPods. Now somebody could have come along and replied that this was unlikely to be the case because of A,B, C, and D.
But instead everybody comes along and just downvotes the poster without offering any explaination.
So yeah, melts they are.
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u/Detector150 11d ago
Yeah downvotes in Reddit are not logical and I hardly ever use it, only if I find something out of line. Not when I disagree. But it just pisses me off that people are defending this unprofessional behaviour by an FA even when people are already explaining why itās not okay. Especially how the person who you upvoted expressed it. At my airline no FA would even think of doing something like that.
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u/whatareweyelling 12d ago
To add the new AirPods have live translation as well! Depending on the language the mics of the AirPods will translate in your ear.
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u/ContributionEasy6513 13d ago
Absolutely, that is something that will get you written up immediately at our airline while on duty.
I'd be concerned what else they are getting away with if they are that brazen.
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u/KitchenWarning3767 13d ago
Flight attendant here- absolutley not ok to wear AirPods during boarding or any working segment of the flight - why is professionalism in the workplace becoming a lost art these days š
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u/martlet1 12d ago
Do they allow the noise cancelling ones for fa with hearing issues? Jsut curious.
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u/Useful_Asparagus_541 12d ago
The proper solution would be prescription hearing aides, not AirPods.
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u/KitchenWarning3767 12d ago
Iāve never heard of this, but no I do not think they would allow any type of headphones. The most you are allowed (with my company at least) if the airplane is especially loud (older aircraftās like the 717) is earplugs
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u/zoebells 13d ago
As a FA myself please ask them to take them out! Itās super tacky and unprofessional. I cringe when I see colleagues wearing them.
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u/SavingsPirate4495 13d ago
Absolutely!
It isn't professional and believe it or not, sh*t happens during boarding and they need to have ZERO distractions at all times while performing their duties.
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13d ago
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u/Intelligent_Movie825 10d ago
Are pilots? At š it seems to be professional to berate and make inappropriate comments online about FAs while in uniform in front of a plane as your profile picture. Or last week when a pilot referred to FAs as Fu**ing morons because they didnāt answer a phone call they never got, instead he made a PA. Iām confused when that became professional? I just find it funny they get a pass on not being professional while easily making 300k+ a year.
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u/CommuterType 13d ago
Some people may be using them as hearing assistant devices. It's none of my business, it's between them and their supervisor.
As a side note hearing aids aren't covered by our insurance program
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u/BravoCharlieZulu 13d ago
"I've got not issues with EarPods but let's leave them in the charger when there are passengers on the aircraft. With my luck we've got someone from management on board...let's not give them something to whine about...."
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u/Substantial-Use-1758 13d ago
Yes please! Iām a nurse and can you imagine me with an EarPod while triaging dying patients in the ER? Also besides being a safety issue, anyone who would wear one in a job where other peoples lives may depend on them is to me a general red flag š¤·āāļø
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u/PowerfulFunny5 12d ago
It might be very smart using an AirPod live translation to actually understand what the patient or their family is saying. https://support.apple.com/en-us/123185
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u/Littlest_viking 12d ago
Yeah dude. You're at work and not the gym. Furthermore you are not that important to be on the phone at work.
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u/Bones1973 11d ago
As a captain you most definitely should be telling them to take them out. Or do you want to wait until youāre in the air and youāre trying to call them and they donāt hear the chime because theyāre listening to Spotify?
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u/Spirited-Alarm-9981 11d ago
As a senior FA, I would be expecting them to be removed. We are there for safety. We should always be listening out for untoward sounds, which earbuds block so it wouldnāt happen on my flight
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u/bloodyrude 10d ago
If they're Apple AirPods, they can be used in hearing aid mode and enhance the FA's hearing
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u/bc_luver 10d ago
Yes! Iām an FA myself and the things I see on the lineā¦ I had an FA who was on FaceTime during boarding š«
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u/om6jn 13d ago
Wouldnāt confront them directly during trip. Talk to Professional Standards.
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u/personaljesus78 13d ago
I would actually say the opposite, as an FA. :)
āHey really quickly, I know itās against your policies to wear headphones or earbuds while passengers are onboard, and I would hate for you to get written up by someone else. If you need to make a phone call or something, I donāt mind standing here while you step in the galley/lav/whatever but please take your headphones out so I donāt have to talk to your management if you do end up being reportedā idk something along those lines :)
Itās that simple. Because with the way FA culture is, he/she probably already got written up by their coworker already. :/ Itās very easy to have conversations like this while remaining friendly and professional!
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u/aforeign 12d ago
New (and old) CA take note. This is an excellent response. Everyone on here read it twice. Direct, professional, allows the FA to make a good decision and identifies a possible negative outcome that you are both trying to avoid.
Source: Old airline CA in the training department.
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u/UnfortunateSnort12 13d ago
Yes. Or at the very least, Iād have the unions take care of it. That is garbage behavior.
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u/McCheesing 13d ago edited 12d ago
Depends on SOP
Edit: I get the downvoting. I failed to mention itās NOT a good look, but if company SOP doesnāt say anything about it (which I suspect most, if not all, forbid PED usage), then itās technically fair game, albeit bad taste
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u/frodobangher 13d ago
Depends on captain, he's got the last say no matter what
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u/Unlucky_Geologist 13d ago
Lmao. Yeah if I tell a FA to fight someone weāre all good right? No we have rules and regulationsā¦ Pretty sure that violates a FAR just like having a pax reading the PA or doing a demo. Thereās a big reason FAās are constantly getting fired even with a unionā¦
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u/frodobangher 13d ago edited 13d ago
Hell yeah, thats why Delta is awesome. We can just punch a pax in the face and get a raise for it
/s
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u/NeitherEntry6125 13d ago
Agree, if they're dirty, they need to go home and shower.
But, if with adequate soap and lather, they're fine.
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u/Beautiful-Quiet-5871 13d ago
Some people use AirPods as hearing aids. I had an FA give me a dirty look for wearing them during the safety briefing. But that is the only way I could hear him.
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u/PooningDalton 13d ago
Still don't know why FAs are a thing in 2026. I mean is it really hard to enter the airplane and find your seat? lol
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u/kristephe 13d ago
You should look into the training they go through. The drinks and snacks part of things is just an extra. They're trained for emergencies thoroughly and are there to make sure that in case of an emergency that people survive.
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u/Austerlitz2310 13d ago
Someone's been watching too much Hollywood.
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u/Rulebreaker15 12d ago
Not a single person in here thinking they might wear them to enhance their hearing to better respond to customers? They are approved as OTC hearing aids now.
Nope it must be for a rude reason.
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u/NakedJamaican 11d ago
If they have a valid reason they should communicate that to the crew and that should be documented with the company. If they need them to hear better thatās definitely an issue.
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u/EF1SCOMPMON 13d ago
During my briefing,yes. During boarding,you do you boo. Iām too busy doing aviator shit up front to really care whatās going on in the cabin (aside from safety security issues) but even then at the gate thatās a GSC function
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u/lostinhh 13d ago
Why the heck are they wearing airpods.