@missingbite I haven’t said word one about cell phones, and that’s a major problem. The question is about an iPod, which has no cellular transmitter. People often confuse the no cell phone rule with the no personal electronics rule, and I think it’s important to be clear.
Of course he could be removed from the plane. The rules actually state that you have to do anything the flight attendant tells you or you can be removed from the plane. That doesn’t mean that as soon as the flight attendant was seated the guy in 14d didn’t turn on his iPod.
@shilolo My point is that your point is flawed. They have just as much power to stop people from sleeping or wearing earplugs as from listening to an iPod. Obviously people will put up with just about any crap in order to fly, as evidenced by the absurd per bag checked charges, the ridiculous and arbitrary TSA rules regarding liquids, pocket knives, and shoes, and the existing electronics rules.
The official rules allow breastfeeding, but flight attendants have told women to stop, and those women have no choice but to do so, if they argue they will be removed from the plane. So there’s really nothing that can’t be prohibited or enforced on an airplane.
But my large point is the last sentence, which I don’t think has been refuted.
And for the record, I don’t own an iPod, and I actually do listen to the safety announcement. In spite of the fact that it is so unimportant to the airline itself that it is now pre-recorded and the flight attendants don’t even do the demo, they just point at the safety card.