BWBriscoe

Is there a seatbelt policy or is it up to individual flight crew? Is there a difference between long and short haul?

There doesn't appear to be any flat rule...sometimes it goes off minutes after takeoff, other times it's 15 minutes after takeoff. On descent they can sometimes come on 20 minutes out, other times 10 minutes out.

Obviously it's weather dependent, but I have seen signs go off after a long time or come on early when there doesn't appear to be any bad weather.

LondonAussie

I have a scale from America to Iberia.
America = seat belt sign stays on the entire flight (but is also routinely ignored by passengers and crew)
Iberia = cabin crew take their seats for landing about 30 seconds from touchdown.

BA is usually somewhere in between.

KARFA

usually comes on at 20 minutes for long haul, and 10 minutes for short haul.

going off for short haul it can be quite quick so only a few minutes or once above 10000ft, long haul it will be more like 10 minutes in to the flight when it comes off.

obviously weather may mean it stays on longer or goes back on earlier.

tomdodo

I think it also depends on a particular country's regulations. Every time I flew into SCL on BA, seatbelt sign went on 40 minutes before landing, and crew explained it was to do with local Chilean regulations (and possibly crossing the Andes)

c1223

I was told on an Aerolíneas Argentinas flight that it's due to the fact that over the Andes in the event of a rapid decompression you cannot descend to a safe altitude where the air is breathable (obviously there's a big old mountain range in the way).

However, turbelence can also be a big issue over mountains due to unpredictable updrafts, so that probably has a big role to play.

Rubecula

Another Chile example. Cannot remember any early seat belt sign arriving into Santiago but told on departure the seat belt sign would be on for at least 30 minutes until we had crossed the Andes.

Bar Operator

Regarding Santiago, there is a procedure requiring flight crew to switch the signs on 40 minutes before landing, and leave them on 30 minutes after takeoff, due to the possibility of severe turbulence over the Andes (I’m sure one of our resident flight crew will confirm). There are certain other regions where seat belt signs are required to be switched on at certain points, but these are procedures related to the security requirements of certain countries.

On shorthaul, it’s generally when flight crew agree it is safe and appropriate to switch the seat belt signs off. Weather is always taken into consideration along with things such as “deck angle” - in other words, if the aircraft is about to commence a rapid climb or is already climbing at a considerable angle for whatever reason, that might not be the appropriate time to release pax.

BA850

Anecdotally, it seems to stay on a little longer departing LHR than departing outstations - I guess because it’s often a step-climb approach until clear of traffic.

Fastest I’ve ever seen was aboard an Iberia Express flight from Granada. The sign went off somewhere between 2 and 3 minutes after takeoff.

scottishpoet

One of the reasons on ascent is the climb out of Heathrow can often take a long time depending what needs to be done to avoid the incoming traffic. You may notice you sometimes level off for a while then climb again. This will affect when thevseat belt sign can go off.

Pigeon49

On Aerolineas Argentinas seatbelts are seemingly optional, depending on how many pressing issues the FAs have to discuss while they hide.
On one flight there was zero pre-landing check. I saw tray tables down while landing so I presume many seatbelts went unused.
Oh, they never came through and picked up the rubbish from the budgie smuggler butties they tossed at us for lunch! The cabin was a right mess!

1Aturnleft

Oh how I'm looking forward to my first AR flight tomorrow 😂

Pigeon49

1Aturnleft, I've not started in on the bad things yet!