Canadian airline dumps life vests to lighten load and save fuel

Toronto, Canada

An official with Air Canada’s regional carrier Jazz says the airline is removing life vests from all its planes to save weight and fuel.

Jazz spokeswoman Manon Stuart said today Transport Canada regulations allow airlines to use flotation devices instead of life vests provided the planes remain within 50 miles of shore.

Safety cards in the seat pockets of Jazz aircraft now direct passengers to use the seat cushions as flotation devices.

Stuart says Jazz is a transcontinental carrier that doesn’t fly over the ocean.

Jazz planes do fly over the Great Lakes and along the Eastern seaboard from Halifax to Boston to New York.

Stuart says all of Jazz’s flights operate within 50 miles from shore. She says they operate 880 flights daily to 85 destinations in North America and says the number of flights that operate over water are minimal.

A commercial-style life vest weighs roughly 1.1 pounds, meaning 55 pounds would be saved by removing them from a Dash-8 aircraft with 50 seats.