This advert appeared in the Daily Record today, for a job working as cabin crew for an airline. Note the part where it says applicants must "be able to swim" in paragraph 3! WTF! I thought they gave you life jackets!
My cousin worked as an airline attendent and had to have a degree to get the job. She was phyc major with 4 year degree and 2 year intern at a mental hospital. She was a tennis player so she had it all paid for!
What's so weird about that? If you crash in the sea they need to know that you'll be able to swim, else the other crew members will have to worry about you instead of any passengers that could be in trouble.
I can swim, but I don't know how I'd cope with being dropped into the North Sea in the middle of a storm. This is why they have life jackets and life boats.
PFDs are a good help in an emergency, but all sorts of things can go wrong....there could be an emergency in which you urgently need to get out IMMEDIATELY, there could be some sort of accident which may damage or destroy them, they could have some overlooked defficiency once you put them to the test, or whatever.... if there is serious trouble going on, ability to swim in a lake or a pool isn't likely to do you a hell of a lot of good in the sea. but its better than nothing, and in a position of responsibility they have to get what they can, and i think its totally appropriate to look for someone who knows how to swim.
