CD's post appeared while I was typing my last reply (without having seen it), so the sequence now looks bit odd.
This is it, until now I only was able to suggest 220 was the limit. It is nowhere in the company manuals, or more specifically those available to crew with some effort and that includes the operational specification issued by CAA.
I quote from the Canadian guidance, it reads common sense:
An infant secured in a lap-held position by a parent or guardian passenger is not counted as a passenger for purposes of determining the minimum number of flight attendants required on board an aircraft, and the maximum number of occupants authorized to be on board an aircraft. However, the infant is counted as a passenger for purposes of applying regulatory requirements such as those pertaining to oxygen, life preservers and survival equipment.
In line with
Flyblue's straighforward logic "no ticket > no seat > no passenger", the first part clearly states that I can take 220 adults + any number of infants secured in-lap with no seat requirement.
The second part is clear as well. Oxy masks - no problem. Infant seatbelt extension - 15 sets. Here comes the tricky part: "aircraft is equipped with 4 slide-rafts seating up to 55 passangers"
It is a quote, but double-translated. If we consider slide-rafts a survival equipment the maximum number of infants ontop of 220 adults becomes 0.
Now turning to mere technicalities, it is possible to argue that in case of not operating over water, the raft function is not part of survival eqipment and total head-count seen on Loadsheet/PIL can go up to 235 with 15 lap-secured infants onboard.
It is also possible to argue that if an infant does not occupy a seat and hence is not accounted for in certain calculations in cabin, the same conclusion may be drawn for seating it/them on a slide raft. Lap held onboard, lap held overboard. So again 220 + 15 becomes 235. But unlike the guidance above, this is no more than a speculation.
Many thanks for the numbers, great help, 220 filled seats - no jumpseating. But as far as the infant principle, I am no wiser.
FD
(the un-real)