Do You Remove Your Shoes and Jacket on a Cross-Town Bus?

I sympathize with those Air-Canada passengers left on the tarmac on a cold day in Halifax when their plane went down. But the fact that people were outside the plane in their socks makes me wonder just what people think of when they take off their clothes upon boarding public vehicles, of which a commercial passenger jet plane qualifies.

The television news shared the concern of passengers that they were left out on the tarmac for over 50 minutes in such cold conditions. The inference being they were cold and shouldn't someone be doing something about the situation? (It apparently took a while for all resources - not just the fire brigade - to arrive).

I sympathize with that too. But when you get on a plane that is routed through Canada, and you are expected to board or depart the plane at a destination that happens to be in Canada during the winter, shouldn't your shoes and jacket be on your person, as opposed to the over-head compartment behind someone else's carry-on luggage?

Doubtless finger-pointing will occur over many issues. But passengers must be responsible travellers, and be prepared for contingencies that can and do occur in flight, or as a flight begins/ends. They should be listening to the emergency procedures, and place themselves in a frame of mind where they contemplate themselves participating in them.

As someone who has flown in and out of Canada, it has been my experience that passengers quite often are oblivious and/or do not care to observe that being prepared is in their own best interests. That talking on your cell phone or blabbing to the person sitting beside you is the last thing you should be doing during the pre-flight demonstration given by the stewards and stewardesses on just what you should make yourself ready for. If you paid attention to them, they discuss precisely the event that transpired.

Planes do go down. People do need to de-board, sometimes in a hurry.

The demonstrations given in all commercial passenger flights refer to events that transpire on the ground. They aren't teaching you how to open the exit door during flight. There would actually be a parachute fitting demonstration were that the case. And since you may be de-boarding on the ground, it would behoove you to wear something appropriate.