The Latest Trend In Airline Cutbacks

Once upon a time, I thought Ryanair took it to extremes when it came to “no frills” flying – but not even they have come up with this idea …

Both the BBC News and CNN.com websites report on the decision by regional airline Air Canada Jazz to remove life-vests from their planes, citing Canadian regulations that say they’re not needed when flying within 50 miles from land.

Apparently, Air Canada Jazz thinks seat cushions are sufficient flotation devices for their passengers’ safety over water.

Umm …

What

The

Fuck?

Excuse me – what about people who can’t hold on to a cushion? Kids? The elderly? People with disabilities?

Even if a flight goes down within 50 miles of land, that doesn’t mean it’s within 50 miles of SAR showing up, either. A bunch of people dumped into the Great Lakes aren’t going to be able to hold onto those seat cushions for very long – it’s kind of cold up there.

That’s always assuming they can even get out the emergency exits with those cushions getting in the way to begin with!

This has to be the most insane idea airlines have come up with yet. Didn’t the Titanic teach anyone that you can never have enough life saving equipment when it comes to water?

Lets face it, it sounds a lot like the usual historical practice of airlines – the costs saved by not doing something are presumably greater than the costs incurred for liability if something goes wrong.

So people have to ask themselves – just how much do they want to use an airline that thinks the potential costs of being sued by survivors or the relatives of victims of an air disaster is less than the costs saved by removing safety equipment this egregiously?

What else would people consider an “acceptable” removal of safety equipment to cut costs? Perhaps double up on oxygen masks? Replace the emergency chutes with a rope at the door?

If there is an air crash involving Air Canada Jazz, and if passengers die in the water from that crash, someone better arrest, charge, and try every single board member, manager, and beancounter of Air Canada Jazz for willfully negligent homicide.

See if those people consider that an acceptable risk.

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