Well the ball is already running on this issue in Australia because at Jetstar we have been operating the A321 with 5 cabin crew for quite some time now. For a 214-seat aircraft that's a ratio of 1 to 42.8. A full mock evacuation / demonstration with flight and cabin crews as well as volunteer passengers was required by CASA in order to pass the dispensation for JQ.
We're very used to the 5 crew operations and it runs smoothly now, after some initial hiccups, but whether passengers would be as safe in an emergency evacuation with only 1 crew member at the L1/R1 doors as opposed to 2 crew, is debatable. Able-bodied passengers in the first row are given a thorough briefing on how best to assist the forward crew member (the CM) if an evacuation is required and I'm sure people will still get out one way or another, but it's the speed at which that happens that could be the problem.
However, it's well-known that the US Airways A320 that ditched in the Hudson was manned by only 1 flight attendant at the two rear doors and that these reduced-crew operations are already the norm in other parts of the world. And I've heard that Virgin Blue may be the next carrier here to make a move on crew numbers; trying to reduce the 737-700 from 4 to 3 crew.
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16th February 2010, 03:07 PM
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