Singapore Airlines Tightens The Belt After Turbulence Incident

Singapore Airlines has implemented a series of safety measures in light of the severe turbulence on the London to Singapore flight which left one passenger dead and dozens injured. The new measures have been implemented across all flights of Singapore Airlines.

The New Rule

The airline has strictly put in place an order which says that “cabin crew members must buckle up when the seat-belt sign is turned on and halt all sevices”.

Priro to the incident, only hot drinks and soup were not allowed to be served when the seatbelt sign was turned on and service could continue at the discretion of the crew, but meal service must now be completely paused, the directive said.

Flights inbound (towards Singapore) from Europe pass over a patch of the Andaman Sea known for turbulence, according to The Straits Times, which cited reactions from crew members and passengers.

The Andaman Sea, a part of the Indian Ocean, is located west of Thailand.

While the airline has implemented the new rules, some frequent fliers have described Singapore Airlines (SIA) in-flight service protocol following the recent severe turbulence on its plane as a hasty move which is already having repercussions on its service offerings and driving up stress levels of cabin crew.

One flight attendant said there was more than an hour of turbulence during her recent three-and-a-half-hour flight flying a Singapore-India route. The cabin crew had to carry out meal service with the little remaining time.

The objective is to reduce the time cabin crew have to spend on the aisles. For SIA, this could translate into retraining cabin crew to increase their efficiency or changing the way services are delivered without compromising service quality. And the option to restructure the cabin layout remains a possibility.

(Source: Syndicated Feed)