A couple of items in Friday's "Australian", as they hide behind a paywall perhaps the Mods will allow.
Byron Bailey – The real reason behind cabin crew instructions
The primary duty of cabin crew is the safety of passengers. Qantas flight attendants are probably the most professional, qualified and experienced of any airline. They take their responsibility seriously and they are not required to smile when directing passengers to obey lawful directions which passengers are well informed that they must obey.These directions are enshrined in law and such requirements as stowing tray tables, seats upright, laptops stowed and so on are part of the legal requirement for landing.That a problem occurred with this Black Eyed Peas rapper not initially obeying the flight attendant’s request to stow his laptop for landing was fortunate for him only insofar as this was not a flight in the US.For the matter to be referred to the senior cabin crew member who then informed the captain means he crossed the line somehow and a request by the captain for the Australian Federal Police to meet the aircraft is a serious matter.He was lucky the AFP cut him some slack and treated it as a misunderstanding for which an Australian would not have been treated so leniently.In the US he would have been escorted off the aircraft in handcuffs and in Dubai probably would still be in a cell.In the post—September 11, 2001 era with the pre—boarding trauma of security, passengers are often stressed, and I admire cabin crew who deal with hundreds of passengers daily.The pilots have it easy in this regard, although one time on an Airbus flight out of Tehran I declined to assist my purser, when she had lost control of the seating arrangements in business class after a mullah decided to enforce sharia such that no woman could sit next to a man not her relative. In such a situation, religious matters take precedence.What is not acceptable is that this “celebrity” used a despicable slur of racism against the flight attendant to his millions of followers to the extent that Qantas was being trolled online as “the white supremacist airline”. This also impugns Australia as well. My opinion is that this must not be allowed to stand. Qantas should enforce legal action to have the slur retracted and an apology issued to both the flight attendant and Qantas.Failure to do so should bring in the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the federal Transport Minister such that the Black Eyed Peas will not receive visas to travel to Australia.Why was this band member travelling on an airline? Real celebrities travel on corporate jets where they can conduct themselves, within certain limits, how they wish.Most of the corporate jet charters I have been on in the last 10 years have been with film stars who are very pleasant and rock stars the opposite.
Robyn Ironside – Safety videos ‘not entertainment’
Entertainment focused in-flight safety videos have been blamed for under playing the importance of safety on airlines and giving rise to incidents like the one involving American rapper will.i.am.
Police were called to meet his Qantas flight from Brisbane to Sydney on Saturday after he initially failed to respond to directions from a cabin crew member to stow his laptop for landing.He blamed his noise-cancelling headphones and no charges were laid, but the Black Eyed Peas star took offence at his treatment.In a series of tweets, will.i.am identified the flight attendant by name, posted a picture from her Facebook page and called her racist, triggering a wave of cyber abuse towards her.Qantas requested he retract those comments and offered to provide legal support for the flight attendant, who is required by law and her employer to ensure that passengers abide by safety directions on aircraft.Flight Attendants Association of Australia secretary Teri O’Toole said a recent survey of members found abuse from passengers was now commonplace.Of more than 900 cabin crew surveyed, 95.7 per cent said they had been verbally abused by passengers and 97.5 per cent said it was happening more often.The trigger was generally a simple instruction, such as "it’s time to stow your laptop for landing”, “remove charger cords” or “return your seat to the upright position”.“Every direction given is given for a good safety reason,” Ms O’Toole said. “It’s not because we like the sound of our own voices. Who on Earth wants to say 4000 times a day ‘please switch your phone to flight mode?”She believed the increase in abuse was connected to the shift towards “entertainment-style in-flight safety videos” which focused on tourism or humour rather than the reasons behind the safety messages.“Passengers have become complacent about safety issues because they don’t fully understand why a safety direction is given,” Ms O’Toole said.“At the moment l think our safety videos are a travel blog. You have people doing the safety demonstration on a yoga ball. lt’s watered down the reason those safety requirements are there.”Ms O’Toole “guessed that was why people were so non-compliant with things like putting their bags away, putting their seats upright and opening the window shade”. “These are all done for safety reasons,” she said.Window shades were raised so cabin crew had a clear view of the exterior during landings and take-offs because they could not open aircraft doors if there was fire.Seats needed to be upright for landing so they would be rigid -in the event of things going wrong and charger cords had to be removed because they were a potential hazard during an emergency exit.“Everything has a purpose, and in addition cabin crew are audited by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to ensure we are adhering to their strict safety standards,” Ms O’Toole said.Japan Airlines was singled out as one of the few carriers that explained why safety directions had to be followed, in an animated in-flight safety video.“It shows that if you stop to get your bags out in an emergency, people are backed up behind you,” Ms O’Toole said. “It gives some context to the requirement and why we have those requirements.”In—flight safety videos have almost become a source of competition among airlines in the past decade, with carriers trying to produce the most entertaining presentation.All must be signed off by regulators before being shown on aircraft but that has not stopped a wide variety gaining approval.A Qantas spokesman said their videos’ primary purpose was to communicate an important safety message.“We know from our previous efforts that beautiful locations with a touch of humour is a great way to get people’s attention each time they fly,” the Qantas spokesman said.