An Airline I won't be flying on

[GB]

Talk about stupid ways to save money.

 

[smoke king]

True that!!!

 

[Callisto in NC]

Maybe they should just weigh passangers as they get on to save money too. That's ridiculous but even worse is that it's an allowed situation under the Canadian guidelines.

 

[ronjohn55]

This strikes me as a bit more of a sensationalistic story than it needs to be. Most domestic (US) aircraft have already gone through this to a degree.

Case in point, of all the 757s I flew on to Kauai and back on vacation, only 2 - LAX to Lihue and Lihue back to LAX - were listed as "757-Overwater" models. The rest of them were not equipped with the same equipment because they are generally not over water.

50 miles from shore on a passenger airliner at altitude? You are, for all intents and purposes over land.

Of course, based on my flight experiences where they are even trying to charge for soft drinks now I can't see myself worry too mych about *any* airline, since odds are I won't be on it.

I'll agree to pay a couple bucks for a can of Pepsi when they agree that my $1500 ticket will provide enough leg room to keep my knees out of the seat in front of me. And I'm a short guy!

 

[GB]

50 miles from shore on a passenger airliner at altitude? You are, for all intents and purposes over land.

I disagree. When the plane goes down and lands in the middle of that water it really won't matter that you were at altitude.

50 miles out with a 3 year old girl and a 1 year old boy with me, neither of whom who can't swim, you had better believe that a life vest would mean more to me than a floating seat cushion.

 

[Alix]

GB, you wouldn't fly Jazz anyway. I agree with ronjohn, this is more sensational than it needs to be. Jazz isn't that big a carrier really. If you're going to be flying somewhere over water its a lot more likely to be a true Air Canada flight or Westjet.

Anyway, this doesn't even tweak my radar. Chances are, if the plane is going down you aren't going to need that life vest anyway.

 

[GB]

No I won't be flying Jazz, but the point of the story is that the airline is putting cost savings above safety, even if it is just a perception. Like i said, if I am on a plane with my kids and the plane goes into the water and we happen to survive then a floating cushion is not going to do me much good. I live vest will.

 

[Alix]

GB, I guess what I am saying is that the flotation device is going to be every bit as effective as the life vest in the situations Jazz would need them for. I'm not defending here, just saying its really not a big deal. I didn't even realize Jazz was still flying to be perfectly honest. Half the time its not because of other financial stupidities. I'm not going to bother getting into them here, but really this is such a minor thing compared to some of the other outrageous stuff the airlines have done here that its not even an issue.

 

[qmax]

Anyway, this doesn't even tweak my radar. Chances are, if the plane is going down you aren't going to need that life vest anyway.

Truth. I'll bet you can't find more than a couple instances in the last 20 years where life vests on a commercial aircraft were actually used.

I travel transcontinental all the time, and couldn't care less if there are life vests on board.

 

[GB]

Truth. I'll bet you can't find more than a couple instances in the last 20 years where life vests on a commercial aircraft were actually used.

I travel transcontinental all the time, and couldn't care less if there are life vests on board.

I bet you would if you were one of those couple of instances.

 

[ronjohn55]

I disagree. When the plane goes down and lands in the middle of that water it really won't matter that you were at altitude.

50 miles out with a 3 year old girl and a 1 year old boy with me, neither of whom who can't swim, you had better believe that a life vest would mean more to me than a floating seat cushion.

GB, a plane at altitude will take more than 50 miles to land. Which is why I said that you are "for all purposes" over land. On our recent trip we "started our descent" at roughly 250 miles out according to the pilot's announcement.

In a situation such as TWA 800 where the plane breaks up over water in mid air (or experiences some other malfunction causing to drop that far in less than 50 miles) well... no life vest is going to save someone.

And as for the the airline putting money over safety, well... yes. But only because the regulators did it first.

 

[GB]

GB, a plane at altitude will take more than 50 miles to land. Which is why I said that you are "for all purposes" over land.

Land yes, but it won't take that long to crash. If your plane is going down then it is going to drop to the ground in a lot less than 50 miles.

I will grant you that in most cases if your plane is going down then chances are you are dead no matter what. However if I were lucky enough to survive the decent then I sure as heck would want whatever safety equipment I could have that might keep me alive.

Getting rid of safety equipment to save money is a poor decision IMO. I would be willing to bet I could find something else to get rid of on the plane instead of the live vests.

 

[qmax]

I bet you would if you were one of those couple of instances.

Yeah, but the probability of that happening is up there with winning the Powerball lottery.

 

[GB]

Apples and oranges qmax. Winning the lottery is not a life or death situation. If you don't win the lottery then that sucks for you, but your life goes on. If you are in a plane that crashes into the water and you do not have a life vest then have fun checking out the bottom of the lake you just landed in.

 

[TATTRAT]

. Chances are, if the plane is going down you aren't going to need that life vest anyway.

QFT

+10000000006

if I am on a plane that is going down, I am not worried about finding the life vest, FIND ME THE BAR CART!

 

[ronjohn55]

Land yes, but it won't take that long to crash. If your plane is going down then it is going to drop to the ground in a lot less than 50 miles.

I disagree. From 30,000 - 34,000 feet (Rough average of what most of my flights seem to cruise around) it will actually take more than 50 miles due to the speed of the aircraft (and a reasonable angle of decent). The whole key is the phrase "at altitude".

Now, that's barring some catastrophic failure causing you to drop at a far steeper angle, and in that case I agree it's pretty much over no matter what you have on board or where you land.

Personally, I'd prefer to never have to test any of these theories.

Edit to add: I checked their website and I couldn't find the type of planes they are flying. I'm arguing this point based on the assumption that it's a commercial aircraft and not some little puddle jumper that flies at about 20,000 feet. THat changes the argument quite a bit.

 

[qmax]

Apples and oranges qmax. Winning the lottery is not a life or death situation. If you don't win the lottery then that sucks for you, but your life goes on. If you are in a plane that crashes into the water and you do not have a life vest then have fun checking out the bottom of the lake you just landed in.

It's up there with worrying about getting hit by a meteor. If you are in a plane that crashes in the water, you'll never get the chance to use the vest anyway.

Last instance I can think of with a water-ditch was that Ethiopian 767 that was hijacked and ran out of fuel off of east Africa. Around 100 people survived but few of them had a chance to put on life vests.

That, BTW, was about a dozen years ago.

 

[jennyema]

I was under the impression that most airlines have dispensed with life vests in favor of seat cushions.

I actually think this is a good idea. The vests were flimsy and hidden under the seat. The cushions are right there under your butt.

As a practial matter your chances of being able to access and use a life vest to save your life in an airplane crash are incredibly miniscule.

There was a plane crash in Boston in the water about 25 years ago but no one could get life vests on then, either.

 

[GB]

I would still want the option though. If G-d forbid i am ever in that situation with my kids, how am I supposed to keep them afloat on a cushion?

Get rid of the skymall magazine and give me my life vest back.

 

[qmax]

Water landing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"So the life jackets ... have little purpose other than to make passengers feel better."