Flight attendants are concerned that proposed Transport Canada changes to staffing ratios in Canadian skies would put the flying public at risk.
At a Transport Canada technical meeting on Thursday, linked by video conference in nine cities across Canada, flight attendants from different carriers including Air Canada, Air Transat and Sunwing Airlines, warned that having fewer flight attendants on board would reduce safety, especially in the event of an emergency.
Air Canada flight attendant Tina Tremblay noted that airline travel has changed in recent years, as airlines try to squeeze more passengers onto aircraft to boost revenues. That can result in more passengers, and “you are increasing our risk on board,” said Tremblay.
Transport Canada is currently looking at allowing commercial airlines to operate with one flight attendant for every 50 passenger seats, instead of the current rule of one flight attendant per 40 passengers.
For decades, the Canadian staffing ratio remained unchanged despite requests from airlines to harmonize it with the 1 to 50 ratio used in the United States and Europe.
However, last year, WestJet Airlines and Sunwing Airlines were granted a special exemption to operate with the 1:50 ratio on their planes, bringing a substantial staff savings.
Other airlines including Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and Transat have also applied, but Transport Canada is instead considering an overall regulatory change. A recommendation will be made to Transport Minister Lisa Raitt, and if approved, could be in place by year’s end.
“We keep slashing and cutting, making all of these sacrifices for competitiveness,” said Fiona Hannan, an Air Canada flight attendant and treasurer with Canadian Union of Public Employees in Calgary. “We need to protect people, Canadians.
“Seat belt laws came into effect for a reason. I feel like we are taking two steps back,” Hannan said.
Transport Canada’s safety inspector for cabin safety standards Christopher Dann acknowledged that there was a safety difference between the two ratios.
“It can’t be equivalent. A 1:50 to passengers will never be equivalent to a 1:40 in passengers,” Dann said, but at the same time Transport Canada is proposing mitigating regulations including requiring a flight attendant at every floor level exit on wide-body planes to boost safety.
Aaron McCrorie, director of standards, added: “If we implement a 1:50 in passengers seats, without any mitigation measures, there would be increased risk.”
But with Transport Canada’s additional requirements including more crew training will “raise the safety level in all instances,” McCrorie said. “I am going to feel safer because there are new requirements.”
Marc-Andre O’Rourke, director of the National Airlines Council of Canada, which represents the country’s biggest airlines, wants to see a ratio change to harmonize rules.
“Safe and secure air travel is of the utmost importance to the member airlines of the NACC and this move to standardize Canadian regulations will in no way compromise the safety of passengers and crew,” O’Rourke said in an email.
Other participants raised issues including challenges of traveling with young infants, and a family lawyer who said it would be harder for unaccompanied minors to travel with fewer flight attendants on board. Similarly, an advocate for developmentally disabled travelers, who need more assistance, worries they won’t have enough support on flights.
Source: http://www.thestar.com
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