TLDR: The law says the No Smoking signs need a button to turn them off and on. The new planes (Airbus A321neo planes delivered in Dec.) turn on (and stay on) a

TLDR: The law says the No Smoking signs need a button to turn them off and on. The new planes (Airbus A321neo planes delivered in Dec.) turn on (and stay on) automatically. the fAA has given permission for United to use the automatic signs in the rest of the fleet. The five planes affected where "briefly out of service on Mon" and "It’s unclear why United waited until this week to submit its exemption request for the A321neos." Personal opinion: Sure the law should be updated. The button in the law is there for legacy smoking law reasons. The "having a draconian law that governs who can turn on the “No Smoking” sign" sentence seems a little overboard.