Air Canada should cancel request for Transport Canada exemption
(firmenpresse) - OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 07/12/13 -- As more details emerge following Asiana flight 214's tragic crash in San Francisco on Saturday July 6th, CUPE flight attendants are hoping that Air Canada learns from the flight attendant ratio on the airplane at the time of the accident.
The rapid actions taken by the flight attendants working with the passengers were crucial to the successful evacuation and survival of so many individuals on board despite horrific conditions. It has been reported that Asiana 214 had a ratio of one flight attendant per 24 passengers when it crashed - two passengers died out of 307 individuals on board. A similar situation occurred in 2005, when all passengers were quickly and safely evacuated from Air France 358, which skidded off the runway and burst into flames. At the time, the Air France flight had a ratio of 1 flight attendant per 35 passengers.
"The heroic actions taken by the Asiana flight attendants during the San Francisco evacuation prove yet again that having an appropriate number of flight attendants on board an aircraft can make a huge difference in the survivability of these types of disasters," said Michel Cournoyer, President of the Air Canada Component of CUPE. "Canadians are proud of our country's above-par aviation safety standards, and I'm sure Air Canada will recognize the importance of maintaining these high standards as we move forward and learn from this unfortunate accident."
Given the growing body of evidence that demonstrates how a high ratio of flight attendants can make a huge difference in the survival of passengers, CUPE, the union that represents Air Canada flight attendants, are formally asking Air Canada to withdraw their request for an exemption from Transport Canada which would allow them to cut the minimum requirement of flight attendants on board Canadian airplanes, from 1:40 passengers to 1:50 seats.
Transport Canada recently granted this regulatory exemption to Westjet, and Air Canada followed suit by asking for the same exemption - the request is currently under review by Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport. Transport Canada is also looking to weaken the actual regulation that determines the ratio of flight attendants to passengers - even though five previous Transport Ministers recommended against the very same change in ratio as it would not maintain an equivalent level of safety.
You can read full text of the open letter to Air Canada here:
Contacts:
Tria Donaldson
CUPE Media Relations
(613) 915-0763
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Datum: 12.07.2013 - 10:31 Uhr
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News-ID 1244959
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