Ham-fisted emergency information by airlines

Regarding Robert Mighall’s ‘Blast from the past…’ letter (DW 12 February), maybe Mighall travels on different BA flights to me, but, speaking personally, the most striking aspects of BA’s safety video is that the elderly gentleman, who successfully dons one of the said masks, immediately transforms into Porky Pig (watch carefully).

The lady who plays the naughty person who hasn’t parked her handbag properly goes into an ecstasy of gooey fawning to the

pilot and, best of all, the ‘special arrangements’ for people travelling backwards in Tangerine’s excellent Sleeper Seat are that you should fold your hands across your chest in the classic Nosferatu pose; presumably, to give the undertakers less work to do in the ‘unlikely event of an emergency landing’.

Airlines should realise that the emergency information is as good an opportunity to finesse their brand as anywhere else, especially as it is the airlines that create their own, personal emergency information card, not the aircraft manufacturer (so why do they all look the same?).

As for Mighall’s question about whether the air masks are worth having, I guess looking like Porky Pig is a small price to pay if the cabin undergoes explosive decompression at 38 000ft.

Richard Seymour

Founder partner

Seymourpowell

London SW6