Seat cushions are enough floatation, government regulation says
Last Updated: Monday, August 25, 2008 | 12:14 PM ET

Air Canada's regional carrier Jazz has removed inflatable life vests from its planes to save weight, a spokeswoman said.

The airline carries both floatation devices (seat cushions) and life vests, and the "Transportation Canada regulation stipulates only one means of floatation is required when we're operating flights within 50 nautical miles from shore," Manon Stuart said Monday.

Life vests for babies have not been removed, she added. Moreover, the airline has adjusted some routes so that the planes remain within the 50-mile (about 90-kilometre) government limit.

The move bothered Woody French, mayor of Conception Bay South, N.L. He has been advocating for an airline passenger bill of rights, and said the removal of the life jackets is a bad idea.

It's not clear how much weight would actually be saved by removing the vests, "but when you're trying to save every bit of money you can to make the airline more productive, every bit counts," Tom Hinton, a former top aviation official at the Transportation Safety Board, told the Toronto Star.

Like other airlines, Jazz is struggling to save money as transportation costs increase. Profit in the second quarter of 2008 fell to $27.4 million from $40.6 million in the comparable quarter of 2007.

Jazz had 137 planes at end 2007, and its website said it has more flights and flies to more Canadian destinations than any other Canadian carrier.

Your seat cushion may be used as a floatation device

Chances are that if your plane does a nosedive into the ocean, you're not going to survive anyway. Might as well do it.

TMPletz said:

Funny. That's also been my thinking over the years.

But I think I'm more bothered by what this sort of things symbolizes. It's a very sad sign of the times.

TMPletz said:

chances are if you plane crashes in the middle of Canadaland you won't need them.

Man, every time I think about visiting Canada, something goes wrong.

ThreadBare said:

Come by land... just DON'T take a bus!!

Lammastide said:

By land? Ohhh, no! They're gonna want to see proof of ID, citizenship and other documentation. As if we weren't already sliding toward a North American Union. I know what's going on.

That's sad.

Fucking whiny Canadians.

Mars23 said:

Next thing you know they'll get rid of the seats and let you sit on the floor.


I say get rid of the peanuts and alcohol and bad food all together.

If your plane go down in ocean, that vest won't do SHIT.

ArielB said:

I think many airlines have!! I know that you now have to pay -- and pretty heftily -- for snacks and drink. On some airlines, you even have to pay for pillows now.
[Edited 8/25/08 13:52pm]

ToraToraDreams said:

Well, at least they'd find your charred, mangled body easier.

Lammastide said:

That's why I'm taking the bus.

22 hours or so, is what it took me to get to VA, and it was fine

ArielB said:

Yeah, I've been fine with bus trips since I was a toddler. My mother used to send me and my sister on a Greyhound to travel to my grandparents' house in Tennessee. I enjoy bus rides even now (even though my bourgeois wife won't do them ) -- gives you time to think, read, sleep. Granted, though, nowadays you have to wear a suit of armor to be safe on a bus!
[Edited 8/25/08 13:56pm]

Lammastide said:

but Air Canada's flights from the U.S. won't be making this change, just its Jazz service. Um, right?

ThreadBare said:

I believe this change only does effect the Air Canada Jazz fleet. But if you were to come up, you'd need to pay attention to which carrier you are assigned when booking. Some U.S. cities are serviced both by Air Canada and Air Canada Jazz -- and they use a common booking system. (Nashville is serviced only by Jazz, I think. )

...But given the tiny bit of water you'd be flying over on a trip up, if your plane were to go down precisely as you were over Lake Erie or Ontario, I'd say it was meant to be. Just let go.
[Edited 8/25/08 16:02pm]

Lammastide said:

Easy for you to say, Expat Boy.

Mach said:

we ask that you please observe the 'no letting go' sign...

that damned song always pops up in my head as the stewardesses are doing that pre-flight safety presentation.

BSK3478 said:

Either that, or George Carlin's rant about airline announcements.

Air Canada sucks.