No more airline perks . . . like life jackets
Some airlines have even got the turpentine out and succumbed to stripping old paint from aircraft and respraying to make them lighter. And a money-saving plan to recycle filtered water in the showers of Emirates' new A380 aircraft was recently rejected by aviation authorities.
But it's hard to beat the tactic employed by Canadian carrier Jazz Air, who recently removed life vests from all of its planes.
From now on, should one of their planes make an emergency landing on water, passengers will have nothing more than their flotation seat cushions to cling to.
Air Canada's regional affiliate — whose planes criss-cross Canada and the US, flying over the Great Lakes and along the eastern seaboard from Halifax to New York and Boston — has defended its decision by saying that all of its 885 daily flights operate within 50 nautical miles from the North American shore.
Under Canadian transport regulations, airlines are allowed to fly within this distance carrying flotation devices instead of vests. Some air-safety experts have attacked the move, saying the average life vest weighs only half a kilo so the savings will be minimal, representing no more than 2pc of overall fuel costs. They argue that in freezing water, it is often difficult to hold on to a flotation device whereas vests are designed to keep the wearer's face above water.
The airline, which has conceded that infants will still have access to junior-sized life vests, claims the practice is common among regional carriers in the US and Europe who don't fly over extensive stretches of water. And there's support for the move in some aviation circles.
“Let's be honest,” says air travel blog The Cranky Flier. “For the most part, if a plane goes into the ocean, there's not much left of it or anyone on board.”
- Israeli airport security officers have a reputation for being the toughest in the world, leaving no stone unturned in their mission to protect national security.
Take the case of New York-based artist Abdur-Rahim Jackson, who flew into Tel Aviv with his dance troupe recently but was immediately summoned for questioning in a private room.
The African-American performer, a senior dancer with Alvin Ailey — one of the world's most successful black dance troupes — is engaged to a Jewish woman but has a Muslim father. Officers drilled him about his Islamic-sounding name. Then, unsatisfied with his answers, they demanded he perform a dance to affirm his identity.
The humiliated artist obliged, but the incident has been slammed by human rights campaigners as blatant racism, reminiscent of tactics used in Nazi camps. The Israeli Airport Authority said it would investigate, but failed to find a record of the matter.
