Why do they have safety presentations?

I have been flying for 20 years and dont understand why they dont
eliminate the safety presentation at the beginning of every flight?
They are so elementary that a simple video would suffice. Or why not
just require first time flyers to be 'certified' for having seen the
presentation?

in this age of cost-cutting , eliminating that would be obvious. If you
look at all the air disasters, I cant name one where passengers who
watched the video had any survival advantage.

i think this is just an example of a large industry that can not change,

I have been flying for almost 40 years.....these presentations are for a
reason...YOUR SAFETY. I won't repeat the responses of others, but another
valid reason is due to liability concerns. If the airline doesn't perform
this and something happens, they are automatically liable for failure to
give proper safety instructions. Go on a cruise. You will also have the
benefit of a lifeboat drill before the ship leaves port...same reasons apply
here. Withholding the presentation isn't going to get the plane in the air
any faster anyway, as this is done very often while taxiing out for takeoff.


<veg_allm> wrote in message
news:1157222147.156650.107900@b28g2000cwb. o...
>I have been flying for 20 years and dont understand why they dont
> eliminate the safety presentation at the beginning of every flight?
> They are so elementary that a simple video would suffice. Or why not
> just require first time flyers to be 'certified' for having seen the
> presentation?
>
> in this age of cost-cutting , eliminating that would be obvious. If you
> look at all the air disasters, I cant name one where passengers who
> watched the video had any survival advantage.
>
> i think this is just an example of a large industry that can not change,
>

Larry wrote:
> I have been flying for almost 40 years.....these presentations are for a
> reason...YOUR SAFETY.

of course it is for safety, however i do not see how hearing the same
presentation for fourty years has improved my safety. i am a
businessman and this is not money well spent. i also dont buy the
argument that 'flight attendants aren't doing anything anyways'. they
are paid a salary to do certain tasks and this is one of those tasks.
i would rather eliminate this task and pay them less, or substitue it
with something more meaningful like paperwork. just put the onus on the
passenger to read the safety card and watch the video.

If you are truly a businessman, you'll know flying is money VERY well spent.
The message these people deliver is money well spent. You can't put a
monetary value on safety. You also cannot drive anyplace any cheaper than
the cost of a plane ticket, as well as the time savings involved in getting
to your destination. You would also know that this message, whether it be
the first time heard or the thousandth time heard is valuable information.
The flight attendants are not paid a salary...they are paid by flight hour
or per flight segment, depending on the airline. Safety is part of their
job description. Your best answer should have been that you choose to
ignore the message....I'd buy that answer...but then again, there'd be no
need for this post.


<veg_allm> wrote in message
news:1157238201.694319.318690@i3g2000cwc. ...
>
> Larry wrote:
>> I have been flying for almost 40 years.....these presentations are for a
>> reason...YOUR SAFETY.
>
> of course it is for safety, however i do not see how hearing the same
> presentation for fourty years has improved my safety. i am a
> businessman and this is not money well spent. i also dont buy the
> argument that 'flight attendants aren't doing anything anyways'. they
> are paid a salary to do certain tasks and this is one of those tasks.
> i would rather eliminate this task and pay them less, or substitue it
> with something more meaningful like paperwork. just put the onus on the
> passenger to read the safety card and watch the video.
>

> That's a meaningless statement unless you've talked with the survivors
> of air disasters. Take the decompression of a SWA 737 last November on
> a flight from Vegas to Manchester. As the presentation points out,
> you're to put your own oxygen mask on first before you help others, such
> as your children, going against instinct to take care of your kids first.
>
> Did you hear about any injuries or suffocations from this incident? No,
> you didn't, probably because of the safety presentation. What if the
> same scenario had been in a Saab 340 turboprop. Would you have known
> that there *aren't* masks that drop from the overhead, but rather must
> be retrieved from under the seat and plugged in?

Good points, and also think of turbulence related injuries... having the
seatbelt on protects you.

In article <1157222147.156650.107900@b28g2000cwb. .com>,
veg_allm wrote:

> I have been flying for 20 years and dont understand why they dont
> eliminate the safety presentation at the beginning of every flight?
> They are so elementary that a simple video would suffice. Or why not
> just require first time flyers to be 'certified' for having seen the
> presentation?
>
> in this age of cost-cutting , eliminating that would be obvious. If you
> look at all the air disasters, I cant name one where passengers who
> watched the video had any survival advantage.
>
> i think this is just an example of a large industry that can not change,

On some flights, the safety presentation is a video. The presentation is
probably necessary mostly for insurance reasons and to help out those
who have never flown before or who do not fly often.

What on earth are you talking about???

Not everyone has flown for 40 years, and some people have bad memories, and
some aircraft have different exit locations, life vest locations, etc etc.
It also hasn't "improved your safety" since it appears you haven't been in
an aviation incident yet.

Businessman.... hmmm

<veg_allm> wrote in message
news:1157238201.694319.318690@i3g2000cwc. ...
>
> Larry wrote:
>> I have been flying for almost 40 years.....these presentations are for a
>> reason...YOUR SAFETY.
>
> of course it is for safety, however i do not see how hearing the same
> presentation for fourty years has improved my safety. i am a
> businessman and this is not money well spent. i also dont buy the
> argument that 'flight attendants aren't doing anything anyways'. they
> are paid a salary to do certain tasks and this is one of those tasks.
> i would rather eliminate this task and pay them less, or substitue it
> with something more meaningful like paperwork. just put the onus on the
> passenger to read the safety card and watch the video.
>

<snip>
If you look at all the air disasters, I cant name one where passengers who
watched the video had any survival advantage.
<snip/>

In 1979 there was a Swissair DC8 that ran off the runway at Athens (Greece).
At that time, at the old Ellinikon, there was a drop off at the end of the
runway and the aircraft went down and broke its' back.

Some time later I read an article by a survivor who specifically attributed
his escape from the plane to the fact that he had (a) watched the safety
demonstration (b) looked around to determine his nearest exit(s) and how to
use them.

glenn P wrote:
> What on earth are you talking about???
>
> Not everyone has flown for 40 years, and some people have bad memories, and
> some aircraft have different exit locations, life vest locations, etc etc.
> It also hasn't "improved your safety" since it appears you haven't been in
> an aviation incident yet.
>
> Businessman.... hmmm
>

according to this logic, all cars should be built as tanks since not
every driver is a 'safe driver'. you design a system for the average
user and expect people to take responsibility for their own safety. the
information about exit locations, life vests etc, can all be covered in
a simple brochure. there is no need for a presentation by a flight
attendant. plus we are in 2006, not 1906, so one can expect the vast
majority of passengers to have flown before. it makes no economic sense
to do the presentation for the tiny number of first time flyers on each
flight. that is my point....

In article <1157238201.694319.318690@i3g2000cwc.. com>,
veg_allm wrote:

> Larry wrote:
> > I have been flying for almost 40 years.....these presentations are for a
> > reason...YOUR SAFETY.
>
> of course it is for safety, however i do not see how hearing the same
> presentation for fourty years has improved my safety. i am a
> businessman and this is not money well spent. i also dont buy the
> argument that 'flight attendants aren't doing anything anyways'. they
> are paid a salary to do certain tasks and this is one of those tasks.
> i would rather eliminate this task and pay them less, or substitue it
> with something more meaningful like paperwork. just put the onus on the
> passenger to read the safety card and watch the video.

Psst. This may shock you, but not all of the people on board the same
flight with you have a lot of experience as airline passengers.

Why is this an issue for you? Just ignore the presentation and enjoy a
good book or take a nap. That's what I do.