Successful Airplane Install Thread

HayleyCPST

New member
Since there are so many questions about "which car seat will fit on this plane...etc" I thought I'd start a thread so people can post pictures of seats they've travelled with and installed successfully on trips.

Please state the Airline, which section (economy, 1st class, etc), the car seat and either RF or FF. If you have the Airplane model, that might also be helpful!

Pictures would be great, but if you don't thats ok too! Please specify if you had issues (either with the install or the Flight Attendants).
 
ADS

cat mommy

New member
JetBlue E170 Economy. CA RF in window seat. No issues except that it was a tight fit to pull the CA on a luggage cart down the aisle. Car seat was required to be placed in window (commuter jet with only two seats per side). FAs had no issue with baby sitting alone next to a random stranger; they just wanted him in a window seat. Not sure if random stranger had any issues with it. :p
 

all together ooky

New member
Rear-facing Scenera. Economy class. Northwest airlines (I think it was a 757?). No problems with install. A Flight Attendant on the way back told me it was installed backwards. I told her it was installed correctly and that it rear-faces to 35lbs. She said, "Oh, I've never seen that before." Eeks.

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jnamommy

New member
Allegiant Airlines.
RFing Roundabout. It had to go by a window, and it did fit, but barely.
FFing Radian. Installed super easy. The buckle was right behind ds's back, but he never noticed and I did not pointit out to him.
 

Lily

New member
Westjet (no classes) - Boeing 737

Snugride 32 - Rear Facing (of course) - Same size shell as Safeseat and Snugride 35

No problems with install. Car seat was required to be installed in the window seat. The various people occupying seat in front of the car seat could not recline, but none complained. I wondered if they had been informed when they were checking in.

No problems with any flight attendants on the 4 flights that comprised the trip. Many were happy to see that we had a car seat.:thumbsup:
 
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oxeye

New member
United, Boeing something or other (767 maybe?) with a 2-3-2 configuration. Keyfit30 RF in coach fit fine. It also worked great on another United Boeing something (I'm guessing 757).

Southwest - Keyfit30 fits RF fine. Coccoro fits RF on Southwest with more room than the Keyfit30. FF Radian, able to use the tray in front as well.

US Airways (coach, don't remember plane models) - FF Radian works great, can use the tray in front. Coccoro works great FF and RF.

I've had flight attendant issues on Southwest and US Airways - mainly anytime I have more than 1 car seat in a row (print out the FAA paper that is floating around this board that addresses this!), or RF a seat that isn't an infant seat. I've always been very polite and just show documentation that what I am doing is allowed and then they are fine with it.
 

disbugsmomma

New member
I have had a ff Scenera in a window seat on an Air Tran plane, not sure what kind. Installation was pretty easy if I recall correctly.
 

Pixels

New member
JetBlue, BabyTrend. Base is incompatible with the seatbelts, but baseless install was fine. Buckle release was right in baby's lap, at perfect play-with-me location, so I hid it with a blanket.

I forget which airline, JetBlue I think. RFing ComfortSport. No problem with fit. FA checked to see that the cover had the airbag warning label on it when he saw I was installing RFing, and took that as evidence that the seat was allowed to be RFing. Same trip, had the gate attendant actually ask to see the label that the seat is FAA approved.

Southwest airlines. FFing or RFing Radian (installed without boot, with FFing recline, using top tether. Yes, against manufacturer's instructions to use RFing without the boot, I only do this on a plane). No FA issues. RFing Radian requires belt extender. FFing, the buckle ends up in the middle of child's back, but DD didn't complain when the cover was on the seat because it has that built-in plastic shield thingy. When there was a diaper failure and I was forced to use the seat without the cover, the buckle majorly bothered her.
 

alia

New member
We've used our Scenera RFing on both Continental and Frontier in coach. I think the planes were Boeing 777s and Airbus 320s, but I'm not certain. FA on one tried to get us to turn it FFing but said she would "let it go this time, but even the directions said it should be" FFing.

I thought she was nuts until I realized that the FFing instructions stuck onto the side of the seat facing her were the FFing ones, and that the RFing ones were on the window side. Sigh.

Because of the angle her carseat does touch the seat in front of her. I did have to brace that seatback with my arms or leg on most of the flights and explain to DD what was happening when the passenger in the seat in front of her would move really roughly, jostling her seat. Several times, she was pretty scared because of it.

Also, the seat belt buckle did protrude a lot, but DD's legs are long enough that they would not have been resting on it anyway.
 

cat mommy

New member
US Air. Airbus 319. Coach. Scenera 40s RF in window and middle seats. Car seats fit into the airplane seats but they were very difficult to install--the plane's seat belts were just very tough to tighten and one of the seat belts was installed backward onto the plane so it was impossible to use it without a twist in the seat belt :(. No FA issues with RF or two seats in one row.
 

christi2705

New member
Airtran coach - MA (old style) ff and rf.

Delta coach - MA (old style) ff and rf. Frontier 85

Easy installs all around. We always use extenders to avoid getting the belt stuck.

All installs were by the window except 2 trips where I had the ff MA by the window, rf MA in the middle, and me on the aisle.
 

lanwenyi

New member
Allegiant (one class)-
FF radian - easy install
RF Maxi-Cosi Mico - no probs
RF Roundabout (40lb) - no probs
(Allegiant does NOT pre-board families, even if installing carseats, unless you pay for the upgrade).

AirTran (economy)-
RF RA (40lb) - easy install
(trouble w/ FA, threatened to kick us off plane if we did not FF)
FF RA - easy install, but had to raise armrests to install (could lower once install was done)
RF Mico - easy install
(complained about the issue w/ the FA and was told by the "flight attendant manager" at the Atlanta Airport that AirTran doesn't allow rfing seats at all and that not only could my DD not be in a rfing seat, they should not have allowed my son to be in a rfing carseat even though I bought a ticket for him; the FA should have required me to check my son's seat and hold him as a lap child. I then pointed out that the FAA specifically prohibits that and was told again that I was "wrong". Since then, I have always carried the FAA regs w/ me AND I refuse to fly AirTran anymore)

Delta - economy class 757's (I believe)
RF Avenue - installed more upright than I would like.
(one FA tried to tell me I had to turn the kids FFing and that if they were injured b/c the seats were in "wrong", that it was "on [me]" b/c she had "checked with the head FA" and I was "wrong")
FF Avenue - easy install

Frontier - economy
2 RF Avenues - installed more upright than I would like for a baby, but okay for a toddler
(LOVED the FA's on this airline; they were HAPPY to see children in restraints and only one asked about the RFing toddlers/pre-schoolers and when I "knew my stuff" she said she was glad I was an informed parent b/c she'd had a 1 day class on the subject and parents were always asking her.)
 

mommycat

Well-known member
AirCanada:

Airbus 319 - Economy

Scenera - RF in window seat - no issues; used seatbelt extender to make it easier

Original Marathon - FF in window seat - no real issues; despite using the seatbelt extender, I still found buckling the extender in upside down for the MA seemed to work better than right side up; the MA sits very high on the seat and contouring of the plane's seat back works a bit against it - I used the semi-reclined position; tray table was somewhat useable but not flat

Airbus E90 - Economy

Scenera - FF in window seat - no issues; used seatbelt extender to make it easier; installed with footprop in RF position (folded in) to make sleeping easier; tray table was somewhat useable but not flat

Original Marathon - FF (window seat?) - no real issues; despite using the seatbelt extender, I still found buckling the extender in upside down for the MA seemed to work better than right side up; the MA sits very high on the seat and contouring of the plane's seat back works a bit against it - I used the semi-reclined position; tray table was somewhat useable but not flat

CARES - window seat for child: 23 months, 25 lbs and just shy of 33"
The harness was adjusted close to as short as it will go. He stayed in it watching the TV only about long enough for me to get a few pics (10 minutes max?) and was constantly complaining that the red belt was bugging him - with the contouring in the seat back it was floating and digging into his back/neck/head - could not find a comfortable position (he was grumpy and slouchy). The lap belt was riding too high, mainly because he kept slumping down, and was not really snug. As mentioned above, there was no way to tighten it any more and it was just laughable having such wide spacing across those tiny little hips. He could probably have climbed out of it easily if I had let him continue to try. I don't think it works well for small kids like this. However, if it was a choice between CARES and just the lapbelt, I would definitely bring the CARES!
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Lot Polish Airlines (code-share through Air Canada):

Boeing 767 - Economy

Scenera - FF in window seat
Plane #1: no issues; used seatbelt extender to make it easier; installed with footprop in RF position (folded in) to make sleeping easier; tray table was somewhat useable but not flat
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Plane #2: Similar, but the seatbelts seemed different, with a longer non-adjustable section? and even with the belt extender the buckle was sitting almost on DS2's back.

Original Marathon - FF in center seat
Plane #1: no real issues; despite using the seatbelt extender, I still found buckling the extender in upside down for the MA seemed to work better than right side up; the MA sits very high on the seat and contouring of the plane's seat back works a bit against it - I used the semi-reclined position; tray table was somewhat useable but not flat; snug fit against armrests so I installed with the armrests in place rather han trying to force tham back down past the shell
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Plane #2: similar, but I had a few skinned knuckles from installing the MA with the different seatbelt geometry (longer non-adjustable section so that the extender buckle was in the middle of the beltpath)
 

Lenae

Active member
All Alaska Airlines

Saab 340 and Boeing 737
RF classic Marathon, no issues
FF classic Marathon, seatbelt extender needed
FF Complete Air, no issues
 

ninejr

New member
blackberry said:
Anyone have experience with the myride on Aircanada. Do I need a seat belt extender, if so where do I get one?

We needed a seat belt extender for our MyRide forward facing on Air Canada

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org
 

melissajohn

New member
We easily installed a forward-facing Safety 1st onSide Air on four different Southwest flights. The installation took about two minutes, with no special tricks required, and removing the car seat took only a few seconds. We lifted the arm rest.

The seat fits well when you put the support down in the back as you usually would for forward-facing, so there isn't any recline. We liked it better with the support up (reclined position), like you would do for rear-facing, because our son was used to that angle (he's 16 months) and was able to nap easier.

Best part about this seat was that we were able to hook the tether strap to the bottom of the seat and use it as a shoulder strap to carry it through the airport. It's so light that it was easy.
 

HayleyCPST

New member
Thought I would bump this so that anyone who has recently traveled can provide information, for those traveling over the upcoming holidays.

As a reminder:
Please type out the complete name of the car seat for future searching ease. For example, instead of BLVD, type in Boulevard.

Also it would be nice to mention if you needed a seat belt extender, or anything of that sort.

Thank you!
 

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