Jazz Air jettisons life vests to save on fuel

Jazz Air LP, the Canadian airline that is the regional affiliate of Air Canada, has decided to do away with lifevests from all its planes with a view reducing weight and thereby cutting fuel costs. Jazz Air LP, or Air Canada Jazz, is based in the Halifax Regional Municipality, at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Enfield in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is Canada’s largest regional ariline operating feeder and commuter services for Air Canada – Canada’s bigest airline and the country’s flag carrier – to over 85 destinations in Canada and the United States. The main base of Jazz Air LP is Halifax Stanfield International Airport, with hubs at Toronto Pearson International Airport, Vancouver International Airport, Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, and Calgary International Airport.

Jazz said in a statement that government regulations allow it to use flotation devices, instead of lifevests, if the planes stay within 50 miles (80 kilometres) of shore.

Safety cards in the seat pockets of Jazz planes now direct passengers to use the seat cushions as floatation devices.

The move by Jazz Air LP to remove lifevests from all its planes has attracted criticism from many quarters.

BBC quoted Woody French, mayor of Conception Bay South, Newfoundland, Canada, as calling the move a “cheap one” and commenting that passengers were “a distant second to profits.”

Defending the move, a spokeswoman for Jazz Air LP said in the company’s statement: “We used to carry both the flotation device, which is the seat cushion, as well as lifevests. The nature of our operations doesn’t require that we carry both. Jazz does not have any ocean-going flights but does fly over the Great Lakes and close to the east coast.”

Only two routes within Jazz’s 85-destination network across North America had to be adjusted to meet the 50-mile requirement, the spokeswoman clarified, adding, “Transport Canada was satisfied that we met the regulation, and they approved the change.”

(Transport Canada is the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in Canada.)

However, Woody French, who has been advocating an airline passenger bill of rights, said he would protest to the Transport Ministry against Jazz’s move. He told BBC: “They are going to save about 50 pounds (23 kg). Taking off 50 pounds is not going to make a hell of a lot of difference to the fuel consumption. I think in this decision that’s been made by Jazz, passengers are a distant second to profits.”

“If you’ve got 5 fire extinguishers aboard the aircraft, are you going to take 2 off because Transport Canada says you only need 3?” Woody French asked.

Michael Janigan, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, a consumer interest group, was quoted as remarking: “Airlines have been reducing costs related to passenger comfort – for example, charging for blankets, headphones and extra baggage – but it goes beyond that now. It is clear that they have turned their attention to expenses that are not simply . . . applicable to the comfort of their passengers. This is now in the area of air passenger safety itself.”