Airline safety videos have been around since overhead monitors, and later in-seat screens became commonplace on board aircraft decades ago. These pre-flight videos serve the primary purpose of explaining to passengers the safety features of the aircraft and important safety protocols, and can support or replace live demonstrations from cabin crew members.

Despite their ubiquity, not all airline safety videos are the same. Some carriers lead the pack in delivering clear safety instructions to passengers. Take Japan Airlines (JAL), which recently made headlines for the shocking runway collision that destroyed one of its Airbus A350 twinjets, operating as Flight 516.

Whilst the accident is still under investigation, the fact that every single passenger escaped without serious injury is a testament to the safety culture at JAL and the instructions it gives to passengers. This starts with the airline’s safety video. 

Not only does JAL’s video eschew lighthearted visuals like dancing flight attendants or destination marketing, it emphasizes why the rules are in place, explaining, for instance, why passengers must never take their bags with them when evacuating the aircraft as this may cause an obstruction or damage the emergency slide.

JAL’s clear focus on safety — making the passengers responsible as well as the crew — and its choice to exclude infotainment distractions helps to ensure that passengers are fully aware of what they need to do when things go wrong. By explaining the evacuation procedures in clear detail, JAL gave each passenger on board Flight 516 the best chance to escape the burning aircraft unharmed.

Other airlines have taken a very different approach, using their safety videos as a platform to showcase tongue-in-cheek dance routines, celebrity cameos, and travel-focused segments that make their home nation’s destinations stand out.

Qantas, for example, in January released its latest safety video. This 9-minute epic (though Qantas says the version used in-flight will be shorter) features sweet stories form Qantas staff around the world as well as beautiful shots of Australia’s landscape and Qantas destinations. But it takes nearly two minutes to get to the first actual safety instruction.

Notably, it’s hard to pick out the key information from non-essential filler, and Qantas now faces a fair amount of criticism for its approach.

When the brace position is expressed as part of a dance routine at an Indian destination — with more attention given to swirling dancers than the actual position — will passengers be able to fully process this essential information?

Does a happy family on a beach make anyone think they are receiving crucial information about aircraft floor path markings?

Qantas is not the only airline that juxtaposes its lifejacket demonstration with people having fun on the beach (minute 2:13), but it is an absolutely jarring proposition! 

Neurodivergent passengers may struggle to follow these instructions, as loud patterns and music can distract from the safety message. So too might jet-lagged passengers, or those who have just completed an exhausting jaunt through a crowded airport. 

Indeed, I wonder if the the desire to grab passengers’ attention with infotainment-focused videos may lead to more passive viewing as opposed to engaged viewing.

Qantas is certainly not alone in producing these types of videos, where the safety messaging is partially obfuscated by unrelated imagery, music, and other infotainment. 

But the destination content increasingly emerging in airline safety videos could easily be repackaged into a dedicated channel on their inflight entertainment systems. 

Infotainment-focused safety videos pose safety concerns because:

Passengers need clear instructions that both inform them how to act in the event of an emergency and impart the danger of the situation.

Passengers need to be reminded *why* they must leave their bags behind.

Passengers should be able to easily understand an ‘accessible to all’ safety demonstration without having to cut through unnecessary information.

Passengers need to know explicitly how to properly use their seat belts, oxygen masks and life jackets.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that people often fail to keep their seat belts on in severe turbulence, evacuate burning aircraft with their hand luggage, and use oxygen masks as little more than props.

Indeed, in April 2018, images from inside the cabin of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380, which made an emergency landing in Philadelphia following an engine failure, raised questions about passengers’ comprehension of basic cabin emergency procedures and about passenger priorities during those rare times when their lives are at risk.

It seems logical, then, that airlines should double-down on their safety messaging, not tuck it alongside thinly disguised marketing content.

JAL’s commitment to clear and detailed instructions helped to save many lives, and other airlines should take note.

Related Articles:

• JAL516 reflections and a visit to the Airbus Safety Promotion Center
• Seatback Savvy: Who makes those airline safety cards?
• Tying up loose ends: Neurodiversity and aviation safety
• Time to revisit airline safety video seatbelt demonstrations
• After SWA1380, is it time for a deep human factors study of emergencies?
• Incidents reveal crucial need for passengers to leave bags behind

Featured image credited to istock.com/Patamaporn Umnahanant