Finnair is canceling flights operated by a subset of its A320 family fleet this week for additional inspections. The problem? The seats are clean.
Specifically, Finnair says that eight of its 15 Airbus A321s require inspections because the seat covers on board were cleaned with water. The airline was informed by the seat manufacturer that the impact on the fire protection properties of the seat covers has not been properly verified when the seats are washed with water.
Finnair says it will need to cancel approximately 20 flights per day over Monday, 13 October and Tuesday, 14 October.
Through published cancellations, we’ve been able to identify seven of the eight affected A321s. The likely eighth aircraft was flown to Prague for maintenance at the end of September.
Finnair replacing 1,700 seat covers
Finnair says it is replacing 1,700 seat covers across the eight affected A321s. The airline expects all of the aircraft to be back in service by the end of October. As of 24 October, three of the eight aircraft have returned to revenue service.
“We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption this has caused to our customers. The safe operation of our flights is the foundation of everything we do. Once we received information that the impact of washing on the fire protection of the seat covers had not been verified in the required manner, it was clear that the aircraft had to remain on the ground until the issue was resolved,” says Pekka Korhonen, SVP Technical Operations at Finnair.
Finnair says that approximately 70 flights have been canceled since 13 October, impacting about 11,000 customers. The airline has wet leased aircraft to help fill in some of that capacity, with Jettime and DAT operating flights for Finnair.
54 Responses
If the seats catch fire, what about the rest of the aircraft at the time. Foolish, foolish, foolish. Imagine the distress for passengers because of some paper pusher at Finnair.
That’s the whole point. If the aircraft is on fire, the seats not catching fire could save many lives.
A mobile phone, dropped down the side of the seat, with a bad battery, could potentially ignite the seat cover material, for example, and a fire, from any source, would spread much more quickly, and be far more dangerous, if the seats were combustible. An unlikely scenario, admittedly, but not the place for a known safety compromise.
💀💀💀💀💀
That’s kinda strict for just some seats
This raises a few questions. What’s the process for verifying that the seats have retained their fire resistance after being washed with water? How many times have the seats been wiped down with water either by customers or inflight crew after a spill? Or is the fire resistance, at least in part, derived from a specific cleaning solution?
I did a quick search and found a document from Fraser Aerospace which states if there are white rings or marks on the seat cover, this is an indication the fire retardant needs to be reapplied. There is also a training course for aircraft cleaners to understand these signs of treatment degradation.
Personally I would rather fly with a cautious airline than a “it’ll be fine….probably” one
Wow. I wonder how people would think about their flight being cancelled.
Decemebr
It’s surprising to see Finnair canceling flights over seat cleaning issues. I hope they resolve this quickly, as it must be frustrating for passengers. Safety is important, but so is reliability!
I’m guessing this is retardant to prevent the powered items in the seat from setting a passenger’s…. seat on fire?
Safety IS reliability
I’ve been flying 58 years and unknowingly sitting in a fire retardant seat all these years ffs, what other cancer causing things am i un aware of ?
Food. Everybody who has ever died from cancer has eaten food. Avoid it.
What an absolutely ignorant remark! What makes you think that ‘fire retardant’ = ‘cancer causing’? Of course textiles on an airplane are either fire retardant by design (ie wool or leather) or treated to make it less likely to catch fire in case of a mishap where somebody drops amn ignition source in their lap. Treated fabrics which are then washed will have marks due to the fire retardant salts which were added are water soluble.
Personally, I work in the entertainment industry and if you have ever sat foot in a theatre, I guarantee you all fabrics around you have had a fire retardant solution added to them. But you will newer get cancer from either going to the theatre or stepping on an airplane.
Really ?
If you’re flying 58 years you are not doing badly.
OMG…
Exactly !
You’ve been sitting on fire retardant airplane seats for 58 years and just thought about it now? That’s not the scandal you think it is — it’s the reason you’re still here to complain about it.
Fire-retardant materials on planes aren’t some new “gotcha” from Big Aviation; they’re mandated by the FAA to keep people alive long enough to escape a burning fuselage. Without them, one dropped cigarette in the 1970s could’ve turned your DC-9 into a flying crematorium in under a minute.
And yes, they use chemicals, because physics doesn’t care about your nostalgia. Almost every fabric in almost every public place in Europe or North America has fire retardant “properties” or a fire retardant coating. Textiles from carpets to seat cushions, curtains to kids pyjamas have similar treatments. The key isn’t pretending you’ve been poisoned; it’s understanding that regulations evolve. Modern flame retardants are far safer than the old ones (like PBDEs, which were phased out over a decade ago).
So while you’re pondering what “other cancer-causing things” you might be unaware of, you might start with sunlight, bacon, or that old-man sense of outrage.
If you fly since 58 years you have been flying for a long time, when smoking was still allowed and cigarette smoke is a major souece for cancer …. 🥃 cheers mate! 😇
Shouldn’t they be verified before being given to the airline?
Who is the seat manufacturer?
How did they clean the seats on the unaffected planes?
What are ‘they’? We don’t charge per word on here.
Who is the seat manufacturer?
Was this not part of the standard aircraft seats manual for the airline to follow?
I wish United would clean their seats and cabins, they smell like a New York Subway!!
Give them a spritz with some ScotchGuard ™, and it’ll be grand….
Don’t ever use ‘Fabreeze’ , that migrates to clothing and travels .
Poor Finnair. A lot of revenue lost and unhappy customers. But I applaud their actions: if there had been a fire in one of these aircraft in the coming days and the fire was out of control because the seats were more flammable, that could be really awful and critics would be less keen to call this move disproportionate.
Exactly, TV News last nigh about an in-air flight having to rtn to Sydney (Au) a/port, due to Li-ion Battery igniting in overhead storage bin….
scary thought right there
This just emphasises the importance of everyone knowing what the proper method statement is for caring for a product once it has been delivered – and following that method statement.
It ‘s impressive that they were able to identify which were washed with water!
It seems like the manufacturer would have verified what water does to the fire retardant. Many liquids are spilled on seats and cleaned with something, probably water.
What I understand from local media is that the seats in all planes have been washed with water. This is OK by the seat manufacturer instructions. But these 8 planes have different seat covers and the seat cover manufacturer (local firm near Tampere Finland) has informed that one piece of the cover has not been tested with water washing. The issue was discovered when some of the covers no longer fitted the seat due to shrinking and Finnair started investigating the issue with the seat cover manufacturer. What we don’t know is who and where dropped the ball in the first place.
What kind of cleaning agent should it be? Is water rinsing out the fire-retardant chemical? And yes, concerns about toxicity of used fire-retardant?
If the fire retardent in the searts has not been tested for the effects of water, someone needs to be asking for their money back, as it is quite likely the seats will get water spilled on them, perhaps in quantity, by passengers with drinks. I would hope any fire retardent in the seats had been tested to be resistant to the type of treatment it would get in normal use (ie water, coffee, wine and bodily fluids urine, vomit etc, and the ensuing cleanup).
Someone is heading for unemployment Stupidity knows no bounds.
This has ever been so. As long as airlines go for the cheapest cosmetic fire retardant, and not a more expensive structural one, normal use, soiling, regular maintenance will degrade the fabric’s fire retardant long before the seat cover is worn out. The only certain way is to use a fabric made from a permanently fire retardant yarn or polymer.
Surly the manufacturer could have anticipated any of a number of ways these seat covers could have gotten wet. Maybe even drenched by a spilled water bottle! This whole issue seems so unnecessary. Why was that kind of fire retardant used at al??
Hallo !
Das ganze Theater klingt übertrieben – ABER wenn der Sitzhersteller/Bezugshersteller nur !! chemische Tauchverfahren für die Flammhemmung verwendet –…. wirklich primitiv bzw nur BILLIG !! solche Flammschutzverfahren sind eigentlich – wirklich veraltet.
Did this include the toilet seats as well??? I’m sure those seat have been sprayed with water 1000’s of times! 😜
Don’t they acknowledge the airline !
Really incredible.
I don’t know if the dry cleaning process has changed since I was employed by a Dry Cleaner servicing their dry cleaning machines in the mid 1960’s. At the time, the base dry cleaning fluid used was Perchloroethylene, a toxic and potentially carcinogenic substance. No wonder Cancer is so common in our time.
I think the seat manufacturer needs a new fire retardant if it simply wipes off with a bit of water. Seems as if the product is not performing as designed.
DRY CLEAN ONLY… Nah I’ll just use this wet vac…..
Someone tore that “Do not remove this tag or face penalty” tag right off, maybe?
Oops!
That’s the usual with no regard for 2nd and 3rd order consequences .
I was a fire fighter for 43 years. The protective clothing we had was treated with agents to make it fire resistant. As a result the items of clothing had to be dry cleaned, not cleaned in water.
Too many people not in the industry commenting as passengers. Airline industry is Regulated down to the smallest split pin. If something is non compliant, then it is a fault and need to be rectified, period! If not, and the aircraft is flown with passengers without obtaining clearance from the Authority, the airline could be penalised. So, never mind the casual remarks, or the probabilities of something happening or not happening. Safety Regulations are sacrosanct, and there are no exceptions unless the Authority investigates the matter and grant and exception.
Normally the covers are dry cleaned and then a sample is taken for burn testing post wash for certification purposes. The fabric itself is not the issue but dirt residues which diminish the flame retardant properties, i.e. the residues left from food spills etc. is flammable. I do not know if Finnair are required to use this process.
This is why I drink my whisky neat…don’t want any watery whisky to clean fire retardent of my seat if I spill…
What about the left phalange
Maybe they should hurry up and test if the water affects the retardants effect on the seats
That is a serious screw up! I see some Finlander jokes coming out of that one!!
Hey, everybody!
The seats are checked for FIRE RETARDANT PROTECTION when new.
Airlines Engineering Department MUST test all the protections offered by the manufactureers when receiving new aircraft.
The AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE MANUAL especifies NOT TO WATER WASH THEM, otherwise the protection would be affected.
Due to the fact that it was not only one seat water washed but ALL OF THEM! The risk is really big!
AIRLINE FAULT!
Read the book baby!