Everyone who is interested in aviation has heard the saying “Aviation rules were written in blood.” Unfortunately, it is quite true. Because in this sector, where jokes, negligence and carelessness cause huge problems, some rules are very important even if they seem “absurd”. United Airlines also canceled orders worth $650 million due to such an interesting rule. Here are the details…

United Airlines canceled its $650 million Airbus A321neo order!United Airlines recently decided to renew and expand its fleet. In this context, the company placed an order worth $650 million in total with Airbus for the A321neo fleet. However, this order was canceled today. In accordance with aviation rules, the no-smoking sign inside the planes prevented purchases.In accordance with aviation rules, the “no smoking” sign on aircraft since 1990 must be able to be opened and closed manually by flight crews. In other words, if these signs cannot be manually controlled by the flight crew on the aircraft you purchased, it is not possible for you to carry out air transportation.

These signs work automatically on the Airbus A321neo aircraft that will be purchased by United Airlines. Thanks to its software, the aircraft automatically flashes the lights of the signs. For this reason, the purchase of aircraft was abandoned and the fleet order given to Airbus was also cancelled.

In fact, these automatic signs are not new. The smoking ban on airplanes was introduced about 25-30 years ago. Australia was the first country to impose a full-scale ban. Since then, no-smoking signs have begun to appear on planes. We can say that the manual requirement, which was introduced in 1990, has actually undergone a minor revision.

Automatic signage systems are available on many aircraft. In order to be exempt from this ban, airline companies apply for an exemption from the Federal Aviation Authority and, in a way, bypass the ban. United Airlines also made this application in 2020 and received approval. However, the company’s Airbus A321neo aircraft were excluded from this exemption because they are new models. For this reason, the company canceled the order.