Controversial Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary is now saying that seatbelts on planes are pointless and he wants to introduce standing room only sections on planes.
O'Leary believes that seat belt laws on planes are unnecessary. "Seat belts don't matter,' O'Leary told the Telegraph.
"'You don't need a seatbelt on the London Underground. You don't need a seatbelt on trains which are travelling at 120 mph and if they crash you're all dead," he added.
O'Leary argued that if a plane were to crash, a seat belt wouldn't do anything.
In O'Leary's eyes, with seat belts being useless, he suggests that planes have standing room only cabins. He is trying to create these areas, particularly for students and budget travelers, with tickets starting at £1 ($1.60) to European destinations.
To do this, he would have the last ten rows of seats on a plane removed so that people could travel while standing and holding onto a handle, like on a crowded train.
"You should be able to choose from a safety perspective," he said. "We don't have heavy landings anymore. If you say to someone, 'look, hang onto the handle there, you're coming in to land', they'll be fine."
He believes that travelers would opt for this way of travel to save money. "If you say to passengers it's £25 for the seat and £1 for the standing cabin, I guarantee we will sell the standing cabin first," he said. "No question."
O'Leary believes this would work out, saying that there isn't excessive turbulence in European skies.
The Federal Aviation Administration would disagree with O'Leary's idea, at least when looking at flight travel in the United States.
According to the FAA, about 58 people are injured every year in the United States when they didn't have a seatbelt on when turbulence occurred. Between 1980 and 2008, 298 people were injured and three died in 234 turbulence accidents.
In June, turbulence on a United flight was so intense, that passengers and crew flew up to the ceiling, leaving five people injured.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
