Southwest Airlines plans to end cabin service earlier on its flights. Beginning Monday, a company spokesperson said, flight attendants will begin preparing the cabin for landing at an altitude of 18,000 feet instead of 10,000 feet. The change is designed to "reduce the risk of in-flight turbulence injuries" for crew members and passengers, the company said. For passengers, that means they will need to do the usual pre-landing procedures—such as ensuring their seatbelts are fastened and returning their seats to an upright position—earlier than before, the AP reports.
While turbulence-related fatalities are rare, there have been injuries. More than one-third of all airline incidents in the US from 2009 through 2018 were related to turbulence, and most of them resulted in one or more serious injuries but no damage to the plane, the National Transportation Safety Board reported. In May, a 73-year old man died on board a Singapore Airlines flight when the plane hit severe turbulence over the Indian Ocean. Turbulence will only increase with climate change, experts said.
"The atmosphere is getting more turbulent; there will be more severe turbulence in the atmosphere," Paul Williams, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading, told USA Today. Southwest previously had announced other changes, per the AP. Starting next year, the airline will end its half-century tradition of "open seating"—passengers picking their own seats after boarding the plane. (More Southwest Airlines stories.)
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