The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the launch of its new creative passenger safety campaign, reinforcing what passengers need to do in the event of an emergency. The campaign’s video asset with six intended messages, features a flight attendant and five wild animals reacting differently to news of a safety evacuation.
Every second counts
The campaign aim is for passengers to listen carefully to their flight crew and move quickly, to avoid endangering everyone. The YouTube video messages are intended to be clear, memorable and effective, deliberately using surreal images to ‘leave a lasting impression’.
The six rules are as follows:
1. Follow crew instructions – Within the video, this is illustrated by a large lowland gorilla wearing an eye-mask and headphones, ignoring everything around it.
2. Leave luggage behind – The stewardess highlights this as the most important rule and this is illustrated by an unhurried tortoise who is trying to locate his belongings in the middle of the aisle, forcing other passengers to wait.
3. Don’t film or photograph – A leopard is depicted ‘capturing the moment rather than escaping it’ on a smartphone with the voiceover reminding viewers “don’t film, move!”.
4. Keep aisles and exits clear – A rhino is shown being ‘pinned between a carry-on and an over-wing exit’ so his luggage becomes a barrier for everyone on the way out.
5. Don’t take bags on evacuation slides – A penguin is shown launching a hard carry-on bag and then itself down the evacuation slide with ‘catastrophic consequences’ as he collides with it at the bottom. The voiceover reminds passengers that hard bags ’cause injuries and damage’.
6. Be prepared – A wise owl has come prepared and thought ahead for the journey with its passport, keys, medication and small items secured to its body or in a pocket, ‘every flight, every time’.
The stewardess concludes the video by saying:
“an emergency doesn’t have to be a wild process, your crew will guide you, follow their instructions.”
Fight or flight
Whilst evacuations are statistically rare, safety in these situations is paramount.
Sadly, it is all too easy to find online evidence of passengers both filming and retrieving their bags in an emergency (some whilst holding small children) so this campaign aims to address this concerning trend.
IATA’s Senior Vice President Operations, Safety, and Security, Nick Careen, stated:
“Save a life, not a Bag is meant to be a blunt reminder of what is at stake for everyone in the rare event of an evacuation”
The campaign is supported by aviation safety regulators including the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
IATA commissioned a Savanta study of over 300 flyers in Singapore, the U.S., UK and UAE, with human behavioural expert input. The study confirmed IATA’s concerns with only 61% of respondents correctly identifying that they should leave all personal items and exit the aircraft in the event of an emergency. Ten percent of respondents admitted they may still take baggage even when instructed not to. A third said they had seen reports of people taking baggage, 22% of these then admitted they probably would too. Only 18% of respondents were aware that aircraft evacuation procedures are designed around a 90-second safety benchmark. But 60% felt that if they had of come prepared with small items secured on their person, they would be less likely to take baggage.
The campaign was launched on the last day of IATA’s Annual General Meeting in Rio de Janeiro. Nick Careen confirmed that whilst education was the first step in this campaign, the possibility of fines for offenders could well be introduced in the future or other measures such as locking the overhead lockers.
Do you think IATA’s campaign video will make you think twice about taking baggage with you in the event of an on-board emergency? Let us know in the comments below.
