Seatbelts on planes are useless?

[Pi1otguy]

Mr O’Leary, the chief executive of budget airline Ryanair, dismissed the notion seatbelts were an essential safety requirement, saying: “If there ever was a crash on an aircraft, God forbid, a seatbelt won’t save you.”
...
When it came to landing, he suggested, passengers could “hang on to the handle” and would be “fine”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/avi...n-planes-are-pointless-says-Ryanair-boss.html

Is this where the pursuit of cheap tickets has gotten us? (yea, I know it's UK)

 

[denverpilot]

Seatbelts in airliners are mostly used to keep you from bouncing off the ceiling in turbulence.

 

[zaitcev]

Remember the video of A380 clipping a CRJ? No injuries in that one. That is what seatbelts are for.

 

[Pi1otguy]

Seatbelts in airliners are mostly used to keep you from bouncing off the ceiling in turbulence.

But the CEO said his planes are like a "b---- bus with wings". Just hold on to the bar and they'll be fine.

 

[fgcason]

When it came to landing, he suggested, passengers could “hang on to the handle” and would be “fine”.

Until such time that he can demonstrate that any human that can hold onto a handle, even with two hands, and not let go at 10g's of deceleration, he is completely full of BS.

Let the cattle ride however they want. Just don't lie about the physics of the situation.

 

[jpower]

For those of you who don't know, Michael O'Leary is only out to get free PR for his airline Ryanair. He's a PR genius really. Here are a number of things he's said off the top of my head that got him free advertising:

--Pilots are useless and they should all be fired. We should train the flight attendants to land the plane in case of an emergency, but let the computer do all the normal flying.

--We're considering making you pay a pound (or something like that? don't remember exactly) to use the lav

--We should have a standing section on planes. We can fit more people in the plane and it will cost less for everyone.

--We should make people pay to use the tray table (I think that was one)

That's all I have at the moment...so yeah. Don't take anything Michael O'Leary says seriously.

 

[John Baker]

One of the reasons they ask you to duck down low during a crash is so that the seats around you will protect you from flying sheets of metal and such, things that could lop off your head. Seat belts help to keep large chunks of meat from being added to the mix of flying debris.

-John

 

[Threefingeredjack]

When are airlines going to wake up and realize if they just stack the passengers in the cargo containers they can vastly increase the revenue???

 

[Pi1otguy]

When are airlines going to wake up and realize if they just stack the passengers in the cargo containers they can vastly increase the revenue???

I've seriously wondered the same myself. I've always thought in the space of 2 rows (6 seats) you could put in 9 bunks (3 high & 3 across) and simply provide handles, foot holes, and a discount for the top bunk.

 

[John Baker]

I've seriously wondered the same myself. I've always thought in the space of 2 rows (6 seats) you could put in 9 bunks (3 high & 3 across) and simply provide handles, foot holes, and a discount for the top bunk.

Because wimins hate to mess up their clothes and hair.

-John

 

[denverpilot]

RyanAir is sitting on $6B in cash. He was on CNBC a couple of days ago making wild claims about there being no one-decision-maker at Boeing ("they're run by a committee of 180 people") to deal with for aircraft purchases, by way of answering the interviewer's question of what he was going to do with it.

This was right after he said he's not a believer in dividends, only growth, and the interviewer tried to nail him down on when he'd be expanding then, and with what airplanes. Basically, he gave investors the bird, in a CNBC sorta way.

His over the top statements are often just a way to get free advertising and brand recognition for his airline. People know he's over the top, which also means subconsciously they know he's going to get them the best price on airfare. Sneaky, isn't it? People's brains used to trick them. Who'd heard of RyanAir here in the States before they started making jokes about paying to go to the lavatory?

Meanwhile, do you suppose that his Boeing reps called him up the next day in a panic? I doubt it. They probably rolled their eyes at his shenanigans and figured he will call when he feels like paying the price already offered.

 

[gismo]

When are airlines going to wake up and realize if they just stack the passengers in the cargo containers they can vastly increase the revenue???

Plus with the optional sedative injection, the trip will be over before you realize you've left the ground.

 

[gismo]

One of the reasons they ask you to duck down low during a crash is so that the seats around you will protect you from flying sheets of metal and such, things that could lop off your head. Seat belts help to keep large chunks of meat from being added to the mix of flying debris.

-John

I suspect RyanAir would change their tune the first time someone got injured while riding w/o belts (or seats) and sued his pants off.