Safety fears as airlines cash in on exit seats

[andorra-airport]

(Sorry for the long text, but a link would not work: it's from a paid news-website (South China Morning Post), I wanted to share it though)


When a Cathay Pacific Airways flight made an emergency landing in Hong Kong last month, the evacuation drill to which most passengers usually pay scant attention became a heart-thumping reality.

Fearing a fire in the aircraft's undercarriage, the captain made the serious decision to use the emergency slides to evacuate the 322 passengers and crew. While the evacuation resulted in some minor injuries, it was by all accounts a good example of crew training and discipline.
But what if the flight attendants had been seriously injured and unable to assist in opening the doors and slides? Despite the hi-tech wizardry that has made modern aviation generally safe, there are still some situations which require passengers to help themselves and their fellow travellers in the most basic of ways.

One of those situations is an emergency landing where passengers located in exit-row seats will be required to open the doors if the cabin crew is incapacitated or cannot reach the exits in time.

Ironically, these seats are also the most sought-after in an increasingly cramped economy class as they have more legroom and usually have no passenger seats in front.

As cash-strapped global carriers have started to make use of every inch on board to generate income, including the overhead luggage compartment, these seats have also become increasingly profitable for airlines. Gone on many airlines are the days when passengers could enjoy exit seating free.

Cathay started charging passengers an additional US$100 for extra-legroom seats on long-haul routes and US$25 for short-haul ones six months ago. Singapore Airlines has charged an extra US$50 for these seats since November 2008 while, last month, Continental Airlines announced a plan to charge more for the exit-row seats from March.

But as airlines search for extra revenue from these well-positioned seats, there have been concerns about possible conflicts of interest with international safety regulations. These regulations mean exit-row seats are designed with evacuation in mind and therefore should be assigned to passengers who are physically and mentally capable of performing evacuation procedures during emergencies.

Hundreds of lives could depend on whether a passenger sitting adjacent to the exit door is able to lift the unlocking bar and push the door out.

Previously, passengers could only request these extra-legroom seat when they checked in at the airport, but passengers now make a special reservation by phone or on the internet. That has made it more difficult to spot passengers who do not meet the required standards of physical fitness and more troublesome for cabin crew, who have to make the final decision.

Cathay and SIA say they reserve the right to reassign a passenger to other seats without refund if they subsequently find the passenger is unfit for an exit seat.

Cathay has a long list of requirements on its website: a person over the age of 12 years, able to understand safety instructions in English or Chinese and, crucially, able to promptly reach and throw open the exit door in an emergency. They also should not be frail, not have a permanent or temporary disability, not be seated with an infant or under the influence of an intoxicating substance, not travelling with someone who needs assistance in an emergency, and not require the use of an extension seat belt.

The problem of selling such seats is that it adds to pressure on the cabin crew or ground staff if it is subsequently found a passenger who has paid to sit in an exit seat does not meet the requirements and have to be reassigned.

Cathay says it has rejected passengers in the past.

"There was one incidence where a 70-year-old lady was rejected by the cabin crew for an exit-row seat, even though she looked very healthy and robust," Ivan Chu, a director of service delivery at Cathay, said. "The passenger agreed to be reassigned to a regular economy seat and received a refund afterwards. Her condition fell into the grey area in terms of the safety requirements."

Some crew take a practical approach. "I suggest passengers [who may not meet the requirements] remain seated in the preferred [exit] seat during the most part of the journey, except for landing and take-off," Becky Kwan Siu-wa, a cabin crew member who has been with Cathay for 35 years.

"So far, we have not received any complaints from passengers about seat arrangements," a spokesman for SIA's Hong Kong office said.

The carrier provides such seating on routes from Hong Kong to Singapore and San Francisco. About 23 preferred seats per flight are offered in the Airbus 380 while four to eight seats are available on smaller aircraft.

In the emergency landing by Cathay last month, all the emergency exit doors were pushed open by cabin crew because the aircraft was stationary on the runway and there was enough time for the crew to react.

"There must, by law, be enough cabin crew to cover every emergency door on board," Chu said. "The passenger sitting next to the emergency door is there as part of a contingency plan in case cabin crew cannot reach the door in time."

Cathay said it has no problems in enforcing safety-related policies and doing so in a compassionate and professional manner. "In the event that a passenger who has reserved a seat does not meet the requirements, the airport staff or cabin crew will reseat them," Cathay said in an e-mail.

Andrew Herdman, the director-general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, said legal requirements mean there are more than sufficient cabin crew on board to operate all the aircraft doors in an emergency.

But exceptions may arise for additional emergency over-wing exits on narrow-body single-aisle aircraft, where the crew will make a point of briefing passengers seated in those rows, thereby ensuring compliance with applicable safety regulations.

[HAWK21M]

Safety should be PARAMOUNT Always.

[Stij]

Most of you know I'm not a big Ryanair fan, but I've seen it happening a lot that some senior overweight citizens are asked to take another seat when they're seated at the exit row. Big discussions about the preboarding fee they paid! But the cabin crew is always very firm about this. And after they left... I take their emergency exit seat.

Cheers,

Stij