GoKawiilBlog post urges FAA to permit babywearing carriers during takeoff and landing
A writer argues the FAA should revisit its rule requiring parents to remove infants from babywearing carriers during takeoff, landing, and taxiing. The rule traces to a 1995 FAA decision and a 1994 study comparing restraint devices like car seats and harnesses, but that study never tested babywearing carriers against the common alternative of simply holding a baby in arms. The author contrasts this with the FAA's more flexible lap-infant policy, which allows lap-riding because forcing a purchased seat could push some families to drive instead, a riskier option overall.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The piece suggests the FAA's carrier ban may rest on an incomplete evidence base, since the original study didn't evaluate the actual alternative parents use—holding a baby directly—raising questions about whether the rule reflects the safest option in practice. This is a personal advocacy argument, not a report of a policy change, so any shift in FAA guidance remains speculative. It illustrates a broader tension regulators face between rules that sound protective and real-world behavior they may inadvertently encourage.
- FAA guidance under 14 CFR 121.311(b)(1) bars restraining devices, including babywearing carriers, for lap infants during takeoff and landing.
- The rule stems from a 1995 FAA decision based on a 1994 study that tested car seats and harnesses, not babywearing carriers or bare lap-holding.
- The author calls for FAA rulemaking to weigh real-world alternatives more fully, similar to its reasoning on allowing lap infants at all.
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Published there as: “Allow Carriers on Planes”
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