Southwest Airlines says it is ending cabin service early on its flights starting next month.
Starting Dec. 4, a company spokesman said, flight attendants will begin preparing the cabin for landing at 18,000 feet (5,486 meters) instead of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). The change in procedure is intended to “reduce the risk of in-flight turbulence injuries” to crew members and passengers, the company said.
For passengers, this means they will need to go through normal pre-boarding procedures – such as making sure their seat belts are on and returning their seats to the upright position – earlier than before.
While turbulence-related fatalities are quite rare, injuries accumulated for many years. More than a third of all aviation incidents in the United States from 2009 to 2018 involved turbulence, and most resulted in one or more serious injuries but did not damage the aircraft. This is reported by the National Transport Safety Council.
I have a 73-year-old man died on board a Singapore Airlines flight when the plane ran into severe turbulence over the Indian Ocean.
The airline has also previously announced other changes.
Starting next year, Southwest will throw out a half century the “open seat” tradition — passengers choose their own seats after boarding the plane.
