Seat belts on planes are pointless

Fully Established

Has Mol lost the plot.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/9661829/Seatbelts-on-planes-are-pointless-says-Ryanair-boss.html#

irishgeo

Fully Established wrote: »

Has Mol lost the plot.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/9661829/Seatbelts-on-planes-are-pointless-says-Ryanair-boss.html#

No as its free publicity.

corkonion

Micheal o Leary always pushes too far, but it pays to ce controversial for free publicity, however I do agree with the thread title... Seatbelts on planes ARE pointless.

shedweller

Turbulence?

bluecode

Seat belts are not pointless. Yes sure if the aircraft ploughs straight in at 500 knots. But most accidents and incidents are not that severe and people's lives are saved by the seatbelts in survivable accidents. People standing in that situation will probably die.

MoL maybe a shrewd businessman but he has consistently demonstrated that he is as ignorant and stupid about the nuts and bolts of flying as many of his passengers.

Besides now matter how often he comes out with stupid ideas. The regulations will remain. He knows that as well as anyone.

I do have to say though. I am getting a bit sick of his nonsense. I wish he'd give it up and go and run his horse business.

Eventually though he will trip himself up. He will have a 'Donald Trump' moment and look like the a fool soon enough.

Green Diesel

bluecode wrote: »

Seat belts are not pointless. Yes sure if the aircraft ploughs straight in at 500 knots. But most accidents and incidents are not that severe and people's lives are saved by the seatbelts in survivable accidents. People standing in that situation will probably die.

MoL maybe a shrewd businessman but he has consistently demonstrated that he is as ignorant and stupid about the nuts and bolts of flying as many of his passengers.

Besides now matter how often he comes out with stupid ideas. The regulations will remain. He knows that as well as anyone.

I do have to say though. I am getting a bit sick of his nonsense. I wish he'd give it up and go and run his horse business.

Eventually though he will trip himself up. He will have a 'Donald Trump' moment and look like the a fool soon enough.

I agree with the first part of your post. Seat Belts are not pointless. But he probably knows this, and is just getting the free publicity.

And I hope he stays in his job, he's good at it.

Bessarion

corkonion wrote: »

Micheal o Leary always pushes too far........ however I do agree with the thread title... Seatbelts on planes ARE pointless.

Lets hope you don't encounter a drop of 400ft midflight anytime soon or indeed hard braking on a short runway after landing.......

The current lapbelts that are the norm on modern commercial airliners are not ideal. 4 points harnesses would be preferable...however these would increase (more like guarantee) the chance of whiplash neck injuries. 4 point harnesses combined with rearward facing seats would be a decent combination.
On that note it would interesting to see the results of any future crash where the Business and/or First Class passengers were in rear/side facing seats.Would that alter the survival/injury chances? [.....many J/C cabins now feature a herringbone layout with seats alternating facings]

On the most cynical level seatbelts are essential as they prevent passengers becoming flying missiles in the event of an crash landing, either hitting other passengers or blocking aisles/exits. This cynical aspect increases the chance of survivors getting out of the aircraft after the impact.

Fully Established

Just wondering how many passengers wouldd have been injured if they were not wearing a seatbelt in the accident at Rome .
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/3416073/Ryanair-plane-makes-emergency-landing-in-Rome.html
Or in the the event that an aircraft suffered pressurisation problems and entered into a steep descent surely safer to be wearing a seatbelt .
And just to show the severity of the incident in Rome this aircraft never flew again, because of the damage suffered it became Ryanairs first hull loss .

Neworder79

Pointless discussion as it will never happen. He has said himself in the past bookings shoot up whenever they deliver bad news, no surprise this being one of the lowest yielding months of the year.

He comes out with one of these outlandish hair brained schemes every second week and gets free global airtime + column inches no marketing department could buy, only Apple announcements compare. It annoys people and they talk to friends and blog and tweet about it. All the time one clear brand message is being disseminated, Ryanair - cheapest. And price being the no. 1 motivator it works.

Mycroft H

Why don't three point safety belts exist on planes?

hognef

Michael O'Leary wrote:

"If you say to passengers it's £25 for the seat and £1 for the standing cabin, I guarantee we will sell the standing cabin first [...]

Unless he can fit in 25 standing passengers in the space that would currently be used by a single seated passenger, how could this possibly be financially viable?

At a push, he might be able to fit in twice as many passengers, but then the price of standing surely can't be less than half of that of a seat?

LeftBase

BX 19 wrote: »

Why don't three point safety belts exist on planes?

Too uncomfortable for paying passengers. Airlines advise that you belt up throughout the whole flight but can wear it a bit looser in the cruise. A 3 point seatbelt would restrict passenger movement and also cost a little bit more to maintain!

Bessarion

BX 19 wrote: »

Why don't three point safety belts exist on planes?

You can barely get the feckers to use the lapbelts as it is......



...........i wonder would Mol stick to his statement and allow his wife and kids to travel without seatbelts on their next couple of flights?

DOCARCH

BX 19 wrote: »

Why don't three point safety belts exist on planes?

I any sort of (reasonable or survivable) crash they'd be more likely to cut you in half with the G forces invloved!

Brace position provides much better chance of survival (in conjunction with lap belt) - three point safety belts would restrict you (quickly) assuming the brace position.

irishgeo

Ryanair is a European company that specializes in flights between European countries with the goal of making airfare as cheap as possible. Michael O’Leary has launched a campaign currently directed at Ireland’s government with getting their officials to allow his passengers to use roller coaster style security systems that have them standing in aircrafts.

The contraptions looks similar to what you might find on a roller coaster. One large brace goes over the passenger and locks in around their chest. A second brace would hook around your waist and lock in. While the standing apparatus does not seem to be as comfortable as sitting down, the positive of a standing in aircraft ticket would greatly decrease the price for the airfare. When polled around Europe, 60 percent of potential air passengers said they would gladly use the new standing in aircrafts ticket option if it meant their flights would be 50 percent cheaper.

Ryanair would be able to decrease the price up to 20 percent, because the standing room required for the safety apparatus device would be cheaper to make and also take up around 50 percent less space on the airplane. O’Leary has already been in contact with the American airplane developer Boeing to make the newly design planes equipped with standing room safety harnesses. Boeing has said that if the governments allow for the new policy, they would happily supply Ryanair with the equipped airplanes.

A standing roller-coaster type harness?

coylemj

At this stage you'd really have to blame the media and not MOL for the BS suggestions that get trotted out by Ryanair and which garner the free publicity they know they'll get.

The OP posted a link to a story in today's Telegraph. During the week on RTE Radio1 drivetime the anchor Mary Wilson reported as an opener to the story that Ryanair was 'thinking of' charging for carry-on luggage. There then followed a canned interview with Michael Cawley who I think is the deputy CEO, he spun the story for all it was worth but at the end of the interview he said that it 'was not under active consideration' so basically he admitted that it was kite flying but none of the RTE journos admitted this, clearly they were just filling in a slot with more free publicity for a non-story generated by the excellent Ryanair propaganda press office.

Considering that Ryanair don't advertise on RTE TV or radio, I'm amazed that the folk in Donnybrook give any time to this gibberish which we all know is just spin to get free airtime.

Strumms

It's free publicity Friday for FR no more no less. He will be back harping on about charging for the toilet, removing the toilet or standing room next time.

Anyone on here suggesting that seat belts on aircraft are pointless are just moronic in the extreme and are completely ignorant as to why they exist and what type of injury they can prevent. Without them we would see fatalities and serious injury grow big time in the industry as a result of very severe turbulence incidents for one, just take a look at avherald to see how often this happens and imagine how many more people would die or be injured without seat belts. Also an emergency overweight landing. The brace position will be **** all use to you without a belt to restrain you? If for some reason the crew felt it necessary to abort take off at high speed ? Same again !

If you are hurtling through mid air at 500 kts with the earth coming up to meet you I would imagine they would be useless in that situation perhaps but the above scenarios are much more prevelant in aviation than this sort of rare occurrence.

LeftBase

Ryanair do not advertise a huge amount in the media....apart from stunts like this.

Anyone stupid enough to buy into it needs to take a look back over a few of the statements Mad Mick has come out with.

kelso00

I've never traveled in first class...what is the practice when you sleep on flat beds? Are you you strapped all the time? if not will cabin crew wake you up if pilot switches on fasten sitbelts light?

DOCARCH

kelso00 wrote: »

I've never traveled in first class...what is the practice when you sleep on flat beds?

There are straps.

Tazz T

Seat belts aren't there for the passengers safety. They're there for the same reason as the Sargeant Major in an army - discipline. To keep people under restraint so that they can die without causing a big fuss.

w@ll3gurl

DOCARCH wrote: »

I any sort of (reasonable or survivable) crash they'd be more likely to cut you in half with the G forces invloved!

Brace position provides much better chance of survival (in conjunction with lap belt) - three point safety belts would restrict you (quickly) assuming the brace position.

There's a 3 point in Thai business class on the new A380

Ben D Bus

Telegraph wrote:

He has suggested removing the back ten rows of seats in aircrafts, allowing groups of less discerning travellers to commute to their destination on their feet.

The FRONT 10 rows would be much better. As a seated passenger I don't want to be struck by a human missile shooting down the cabin after a 'firm' landing.

pclancy

Clear air turbulence or "air pockets" will always mean people need at least some kind of restraint.

Su Campu

Anyone who says they're not necessary needs their head examined.

http://avherald.com/h?article=4470616d/0000&opt=0

crazygeryy

Ben D Bus wrote: »

The FRONT 10 rows would be much better. As a seated passenger I don't want to be struck by a human missile shooting down the cabin after a 'firm' landing.

well according to the documentary on ch4 a few weeks ago the front section will be in most cases obliterated in the event of a crash. ill take my chances dodging missiles.:)

Ben D Bus

crazygeryy wrote: »

well according to the documentary on ch4 a few weeks ago the front section will be in most cases obliterated in the event of a crash.

Surely that strenghtens my case to put the cheapskates at the front :pac:

smurfjed

if not will cabin crew wake you up if pilot switches on fasten sitbelts light?

from my experience they will wake you due to liability reasons, that's why it makes sense to keep the belt on while you sleep.

Smurfjed

IRLConor

smurfjed wrote: »

from my experience they will wake you due to liability reasons, that's why it makes sense to keep the belt on while you sleep.

Yup. I've been on a couple of flights where the cabin crew have asked that you put the belt over any blankets so that they don't have to wake you to make sure you have it on.

Lucky feckers who are able to sleep on flights!

smurfjed

Lucky feckers who are able to sleep on flights!

try ear plugs and eye shades.....

Smurfjed

IRLConor

smurfjed wrote: »

try ear plugs and eye shades.....

Even drugs don't put me under properly (at least not anything I can get over the counter). The problem is that I have serious trouble sleeping sitting up. My back gets quite sore if I sit still for any length of time - worse if I recline the seat - so I end up moving a lot and waking myself up.

I can actually sleep more easily standing up (maybe MO'L has a point! :pac:) and used to happily sleep propped against a partition on the train on the way into college.

When I have the money to fly with a lie flat bed I'm sure I'll sleep like a baby. Until then, I'll spend my time watching movies, reading and working with my belt loosely fastened. :P

Cienciano

Neworder79 wrote: »

Pointless discussion as it will never happen. He has said himself in the past bookings shoot up whenever they deliver bad news, no surprise this being one of the lowest yielding months of the year.

He comes out with one of these outlandish hair brained schemes every second week and gets free global airtime + column inches no marketing department could buy, only Apple announcements compare. It annoys people and they talk to friends and blog and tweet about it. All the time one clear brand message is being disseminated, Ryanair - cheapest. And price being the no. 1 motivator it works.

Spot on. The guy is a genius!
Pay for using the toilets
Standing area on planes
MoL's face on the toilet paper
The guy has a list of things he can say and he knows it will get in every newspaper, every website, get everyone talking about ryanair. That line probably just gave the company €500k worth of free advertising.

jmayo

Cienciano wrote: »

Spot on. The guy is a genius!
Pay for using the toilets
Standing area on planes
MoL's face on the toilet paper
...

Would be a loss maker since people would be nicking it wholesale just to have pleasure of giving it to friends/family to spread the ... ehhh love for mr o'leary.