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Airline ditches life vests to save fuel |
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Monday, 01 September 2008 |
TORONTO – In a controversial move, Air Canada's regional carrier, Jazz is getting rid of life vests for all its aircrafts to lighten the planes and save fuel.
Now, passengers will be instructed to use the seat cushions for flotation.
The airline’s spokeswoman Manon Stuart defends the move, saying that it is within Transport Canada regulations, which allow airlines to use floatation devices in place of life vests, as long as the craft stays within the stipulated 50 nautical miles of shore.
According to Stuart, "The nature of our operations doesn't require that we carry both.” She added that Jazz, which is a transcontinental carrier, doesn’t fly over the ocean.
But the planes in actuality fly over the Great Lakes and along the Eastern seaboard from Halifax to Boston and New York.
The spokeswoman said, however, that all of Jazz’s flights operate within the stipulated miles of shore and only a few of the 880 flights a day to 86 destinations in North America actually operate over water.
But there are some who are calling it a cheap move and others who feel that it sets a bad precedence for the airline industry, as other airlines may want to adopt this trend to save on fuel at the expense of passenger safety.
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