I forgot I had this story saved and then saw it again while cleaning my bookmarks. Apparently Korean Air is very save.
When I was working for a local Airline in South Africa, one of our rules was "If you don't understand English then you don't sit next to ANY exit". The reason for this is because our emergency procedures are all in English and we study them in English. You don't have time to wonder what language you should speak when you only have five minutes to prepare for a possible crash lading. There is a crap load to do and you are already under tremendous stress. People lives, not just your own, are at stake.
When I flew with Qatar Airline there was no such rule. In an airline where passengers speak hundreds of languages, how am I expected to communicate with a passenger when the s*** hits the fan? The answer was: "You move the passengers during the emergency." Oh, THAT makes sense. I have to try an move a passenger who doesn't understand English, and I have to do it with everyone panicking. GREAT IDEA! I one tried to explain to a Portuguese women that I had to move her, while we were still boarding, and it took me almost 10 minutes. In the end there was a gentleman nice enough to give up his seat so that I can move her. The only problem was that he was also sitting next to an exit.
Keep this in mind next time you fly Korean Airlines and happen to sit at the over wing exit. If something goes wrong and they have to tell you what to do (if they themselves get injured), will they be able to do it and will you get off the possibly burning aircraft? I hear the Korean Air cabin crew are not so hot on the Island Language.
2 comments:
OMG I've noted that for future reference ...... but I'm not sure I want to fly Korean Air again to 'hoju' as they have no personalised TVs to minimise the bordeom of the 10hr direct flight - there's only so much reading & sleeping you can do. Do all Korean Air flights to other parts of the world have no personalised TVs?
It usually depends on the aeroplane. The airline orders it the way the want it and they cant seem to keep to a standers most of the time, so you end up with personal TV on only some of what are suppose to be the same aircraft types.
If you think you are the only one who dislikes not having the TV then remember that bored passenger bother the cabin crew, and not all airlines allow their crew to sleep on a long flight.
You know why they call passenger PAX? "Because they pax in everything but the kitchen sink and that usually include the brain." ;)
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