For a few dollars more

Recently I came across a cartoon in which the flight attendant demonstrates the use of oxygen masks in case of an emergency. It is the part of the usual  pre-flight safety drills but with one change. It needs you to swipe your credit card prior to the dropping of the oxygen mask. i.e.Even in an emergency, you can’t breath free, if you have exceeded your credit limit.

At the time I was reading it, I thought it to be too extreme and wondered which airlines would go to such lengths to squeeze out its already depleting list of passengers. So I didn’t bother to save the link for you. However to compensate I have saved this one which is just as good and as a bonus it comes with a good article that bears upon the current turmoil the airline industry is mired in. 

The cartoon fails to add two more sources of revenue for the airlines and I took the liberty to list them below:

• Male or female, bad breath is chargeable extra 5$ per seat.
• While tattoos on female are free, on male passengers it costs an extra 5$ to carry.

Feel free to add your own to the list, because the airlines need all the help it can get.

To be fair, as the article points out, the airlines are in as much trouble as we passengers are. They do their best to attract customers by offering some extra services( for a fee of course) like in-flight Internet access who need to surf @ 40000 feet. In an attempt to stay afloat they either have to shave off costs or charge customers.

When it cannot charge its passengers anymore without further drop in its demand, the airlines get innovative to cut its operational costs. But can it be at the expense of safety?

This one is for real and comes from Jazz Airlines, the regional affiliate of Air Canada. The merit of using seat cushion as a floatation device vs using a life jacket in an emergency is debatable.

Though Jazz airlines may choose to defend its action that it is operating within the Transport Canada regulations for flying over water, I personally think, in an emergency, life jacket is a passive device which stays on you and leaves your hands free, while the seat cushion expects to you hold on to it for life with both hands.  

If too many passengers object, the airlines may come up with a plan this:

Seat cushion is free and comes standard with the ticket and the life jacket comes extra, payable at the time of boarding the flight and can be picked up from the flight attendant en route to your seat. Make sure you return it safely at the end of the flight if you happen to land safely.

Will you take the option? I will, my life is definitely worth a few dollars more.