Fewer F/A's

[Bugz]

Airlines may be allowed to use fewer attendants
Updated Mon. May. 8 2006 12:38 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Domestic airlines may soon be allowed to use fewer flight attendants on all Canadian departures, a decision that critics are warning could put passengers at risk.

The move would allow airlines to decide for each flight whether they would calculate the minimum number of flight attendants based on the aircraft's total number of seats, or the number of tickets sold, The Globe and Mail reports.

Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon told The Globe that he expects "in the near future" to be able to put forward new rules for flight attendant ratios.

But he warned: "We're looking at a series of options."

The airlines say they're simply asking for the option to apply the per-seat formula that is used in Europe and the United States.

Currently, there must be one flight attendant for every 40 passengers, except on smaller regional jets.

For the 50-seat regional jets, the airlines can have one attendant for every 50 available seats, which is the formula airlines would like to see as an option for all flights.

But the union that represents most of the country's flight attendants warns the move could jeopardize safety.

"More is better," Richard Balnis, researcher for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) told The Globe. "You need that extra margin of safety."

Fred Gaspar, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association of Canada, which represents Canada's airlines, told the newspaper the union's main concern is job protection - not safety.

According to a 2004 document accessed by The Globe, Transport Canada rejected three informal and two formal WestJet requests for a change to the formula "as a result of failing to ensure an equivalent level of safety."

[cyyz]

Fred Gaspar, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association of Canada, which represents Canada's airlines, told the newspaper the union's main concern is job protection - not safety.

ROFL... So true..