As I have said before this concept of pax assisting during an evacuation is an untried one so it has nothing to do with generational finger pointing.
Well when a Singapore Airlines crew attempted to take-off on a closed runway in Taipai
(SQ006, 31 October 2000)
there were reports of cabin crew unable to operate doors due to the deck angle and their diminutive size and strength, amongst other things...
Steven Courtney and John D. Wiggans, survivors of the crash, stated in a USA Today article that the staff were unable to help the passengers escape from the aircraft due to being frozen by fear and/or due to lack of competence in emergency procedures; Wiggans was seated in the upper deck business class area
If you travel on a train, in a packed carriage and in crashes and starts to burn, who will help get you out?
If you travel on a ferry, say Sydney harbour or even down to Tasmania, and the ship starts to go down, who will help you get out? Incidentally the local ferries do not even know who is on board, only total number.
If you are in a crowded cinema and it starts to burn who will get you out?
I ask these questions to play devils advocate and as these are questions I hear from the general public (friends at dinner etc) about why aviation is so different to other forms of mass transport.
As a pilot I take responsibility for getting myself out of a burning aircraft when I am paxing. I certainly do not rely on a twenty year old who has completed about three to five days of EPs training during their cabin crew groundschool.