Here's my point: the safest way to deal with inflight turbulence as a Captain is to leave the seatbelt sign ON all the time......It covers your ass 100%. Of course, that's not practical in the real world. Dealing with chop/turb as it comes up is the most sensible way. Some guys turn on the sign any time there is slight ripple. What is the most frustrating is when you get "out of phase" with the chop where you start throwing the switch on when it should be off and turning it off when it should be on. Does this make any sense to you Captains?? I think you know what I mean...
Yes we have all been there and know exactly what you mean. One thing I have noticed on some US carriers is exactly what you say, in that some Captains will leave the seatbelt sign ON throughout the flight. The problem with this, is that it devalues the impact of the message. Passengers (just like the rest of the crew,) need to move about from time to time if only to attend to
physiological needs If they are to heed the warnings, it is important that those warnings are seen to be relevant. Rather like being stuck at a red traffic light. After a while you realise it isn't providing a proper function and you are forced to ignore it. In my opinion, leaving it on is simply lazy and shows poor discrimination.