I suppose stewardesses have helped out in those few incidents when people survived a disaster but face it: most of us are gonna die if there's a serious problem.
Some of them are still pretty, though. And now and then, they do have some peanuts left. But, sadly, it's pretty much just a bus with wings and cramped seats.
When's the last time a seatcushion actually worked as a floatation device?
It would probably help a nine-year-old in perfectly still water for about three minutes.
When's the last time someone survived a water "landing" in a commercial airliner?
In 1996, a hijacked Ethiopian Boeing 767 ran out of fuel and water landed (crashed) in the waters just off a Comoros Islands resort. 52 of the 175 people aboard survived, most of those who survived the crash and didn’t drown were clinging to the fuselage until boats arrived from the resort.
I remembered that crash because the footage of the plane hitting the water and breaking apart was pretty intense. (I had to look up the details.)