LO
ConstraintPhysical automation1965-03-09
US federal rules require one flight attendant per 50 seats above 100, seated near the exits for take-off and landing
Cabin crewoccupation page →
Event date / reported
1965-03-09
Evidence stage
ConstraintFailure, rollback, regulation or cost is suppressing adoption. Can lower an assessment or widen its uncertainty.
Tasks this bears on
Being ready to evacuate the aircraft
Sitting at an assigned exit for take-off and landing, and in an emergency opening the exits, commanding passengers and getting everyone off within seconds.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
The current text of 14 CFR 121.391 on the government's own eCFR, originally published at 30 FR 3206 on 9 March 1965 and amended since. It requires one flight attendant on aeroplanes with more than 9 or 19 (by payload) but fewer than 51 seats, two for 51 to 100 seats, and two plus one for each unit or part of a unit of 50 seats above 100. If an operator's emergency evacuation demonstration used more attendants than that, it may not later fly the aeroplane with fewer. During take-off and landing, the required flight attendants must sit as near as practicable to the required floor-level exits and be uniformly distributed through the aeroplane, to provide the most effective egress of passengers in an emergency evacuation. It establishes a legal minimum and its stated safety purpose in the United States; it does not say how many attendants airlines roster above it, and it says nothing about onboard service.
What this means
US federal rules require flight attendants in proportion to seats and seat them near the exits for take-off and landing, stating that the purpose is the most effective evacuation of passengers.
What it does not yet show
It is a minimum with a stated safety purpose; it says nothing about how many attendants airlines carry above it or about onboard service.
What you can check
Read the section yourself and check whether your aircraft type's evacuation demonstration set a higher crew number than the seat count alone would.
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event. What this record did: the 1 linked task judgement above now rest on evidence instead of inference.
Source
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations — 14 CFR 121.391, Flight attendants · verified 2026-09-23 · Claude (VOLO agent) — source text fetched and cross-checked · interpreted 2026-09-23 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.