CAA/FAA are useless... Industry Tombstone Safety Protocols are useless... Most if not all cabin safety equipment is useless... Brace positions and other cabin safety procedures are useless... Flight Attendant training is useless... etc. etc.
I think I've been misquoted. All I did was rattle the cage a little and some precious indignation came running out of its little house. I truly believe that unless we can carry people safely from one place to another there is no point in doing what we do. Part of that process is to use our imagination, trends and statistics, science, topical knowledge etc. and to constantly question what we do. I'm fortunate in so much that I am able to question how we go about doing our jobs.
But not for one minute do I ever accept that those who make the legislation we have to follow are always correct. Nor do I have to believe that fashionable items of training like "restraint & conflict management" will yield much in the way of a return (or more likely, loss reduction) - but I'm open to argument on this. I also know for a fact that cabin crew do an amazing job considering the some of the vicious, vindictive bullies they have to work for. We don't have to look far to see how effective cabin crew can be when a flight has a traumatic end - Glasgow, Hudson River, 777 & LHR etc.
No, my argument is that "our" procedures are not what they should be. Passenger's (and crew's) outlooks, experience and social attitudes are different from the ones who were considered when the current "safety" policies were written. Also, there have been physical changes in people and aircraft and we (and more importantly, our regulators) rarely take this into account as time moves on. Therefore, we perpetuate outdated procedures and like religious fundamentalists insist that what we do is as close to perfection as is possible (and remember, if you don't tie that double bow, you'll surely drown!).
Yes, I'm a fully paid up member of the "awkward squad." As would be expected, have to have the reason for everything explained to me and even then, I might not believe what I'm being told. However, until the procedures change, I also have to conform and comply.
I would have hoped that this was a place where a discussion could take place rather than just stick with the status quo. But maybe like some SEP Trainers, I'm a just little niaive?
PM