Need carseat info for Southwest, United and American

[Minnie824]

If we end up flying to Orlando later this year, it will most likely be either Southwest, United or American. Can anyone tell me the carseat restrictions for any of those airlines? We'll be traveling with our DDs then ages 5 and 2.5. Will they need a carseat? Also, I was looking at southwest, and it said anyone under 40lbs. Well, my then 5 yr old (now 4.5) is currently only 36lbs...I'm thinking she still may not be 40lbs at the time..would she need one too?

 

[tjmw2727]

Actually none of the airlines require the use of a CRS, heck they allow babies to fly on a parents lap! However the airlines, the AAP and the FAA all recommend that a CRS be used for children under 40lbs.

Here is the quote from Southwest:
If you're traveling with an infant or small child, you should know that proper use of an approved child restraint device (CRD) enhances child safety on aircraft. For this reason, Southwest Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strongly recommend that infants and small children who weigh under 40 pounds be secured in an appropriate CRD when traveling by air.

link to aap:
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;108/5/1218

American Airlines website has similar wording to SWA.

So its up to you if you want your chid in a carseat in the aircraft. The carseat must have a sticker on the back indicating it is approved for airline use, most newer ones do.

We used one for our girls up to age 3 closer to 4 for youngest dd, especially if we needed the carseat for ground transportation during the trip.

TJ

 

[NotUrsula]

The restrictions on carseats don't come from the airlines; they are mandated by the FAA. In a nutshell, here they are:

- On US carriers, you are entitled by US law to be able to use a carseat for your child under 40 lbs. if it is approved for aircraft use, AND if you have purchased the seat it will be used in. (You *MAY* be allowed to use it in a seat you have not purchased if there is a vacant seat on your flight, but in that situation the airline has total discretion on whether to allow it.)

- No carseat without an integrated upper-body harness may be used on board an aircraft.

- Approved-for-aircraft-use carseats will have a sticker with RED lettering that says, "THIS RESTRAINT IS CERTIFIED FOR USE IN MOTOR VEHICLES AND AIRCRAFT."

- Carseats may not be placed in exit rows, nor in the rows immediately in front of or directly behind an exit row.

- Carseats may not be installed in a position that will impede egress in an emergency. In practice, this almost always means that they must be installed in the window seat, or in the center seat of a row in the center section of a widebody aircraft. The idea is that no one would have to crawl over it in an emergency evacuation.

- A carseat that a child is actually sitting in during the flight does not count against your checked baggage allowance, but a carseat that is stowed in the hold may count against it -- ask your airline on this one.

If you are taking a carseat on board a legacy carrier flight (not SWA), you should call and let them know about it before you arrive at the airport. If you are assigned an "illegal" seat for the carseat and you don't get it fixed in advance, you chance not having your entire party seated together, because the FA's *will* make you move the carseat to a legal seat.

Oh, about the 5 yo; it would depend on how tall she is and if you still use a 5-pt harness carseat for her. Without a harness the question is moot, as carseats that lack harnesses may not be used in aircraft. IME, kids who are over 4 ft. tall will not be able to sit in a carseat in coach without their legs jammed pretty tightly against the seat in front of them, because the seat tends to force their legs to rest at a bit of an angle against the seat cushion underneath it. We gave up the carseat (on planes) for this reason when DS was about 37 lbs. at age 5.