TWTWTW 16-20 January 2023
This week’s aviation mystery – the seat belt
This week’s aviation mystery: who needs to be shown how to use a seat belt? How did those that do need that instruction get to the airport? Have they never been in a car? Why do we waste very sparse passenger attention span on that instruction?
Safety messages are always an issue for airlines. They are vital, both from a helping the passengers in the event of an emergency point of view, and from a limiting liability to passengers in the event of an emergency point of view, but inevitably, once you have seen the safety demo once, you probably do not feel the need to watch it again. That is why airlines change them from time to time. To see if they can grab your attention again, at least for a little while. Airlines know that they have very little time to get and keep your attention. So, again we ask, why waste that precious commodity on something as obvious as a seat belt buckle?
Before the pandemic, we were watching a safety demo arms race of sorts as airlines tried to hold your attention. Air New Zealand led in this race for many years, using various celebrities and locations to make their point. This included their then CEO and other staff dressed only in body paint giving you the bare essentials of safety. There were reworkings of M?ori origin stories. The cast of the Lord of the Rings films were roped in to making the point about finding your exits. Having run out of world-famous stars they then recruited world famous in New Zealand stars, the NZ Rugby team.
Others quickly got on the band wagon. Korean Air recruited (and no doubt paid hugely for) one of those three-letter boy bands: RPK? LBW? – BTS! BTS, that’s it – to do their video. Sadly, it was cut short by the pandemic, but rather than waste the video and the money it must have cost to record and use it, after it runs, the Flight Service Director is now required to add a post-script noting what to do with your mask if the oxygen mask should appear before you.
In that way that only US companies seem to think work, US airlines got safety videos that were introduced by the airline’s CEO, or failing that, a captain, or at least a man playing the role of a captain. Who does not like the personal touch? Particularly given it is to you, me and 300 of our closest friends packed into an aircraft and given by a man (always a man) reading of a card about no, not how important we are, but how excited they are. Excited? Really? We are buying a service; they are doing their job. Frankly, less excitement, more professional focus would be better. AT least on the upside, United uses Rhapsody in Blue as its soundtrack.
All of the safety demos tell us that safety is very important to them. That is good to know, but really, again, do we need to be told this like it is a new thought? Have they only just thought of it? Why, it is so important they will try, very hard, not to kill us, but frankly, much of the responsibility is up to you. By doing up your seat belt, obviously. If only we knew how to do that…