Air France Questions

[Gouabafla]

Salut tout le monde!

Most of my flying is with AF and I'm happy with that - though I wish they would use a different major hub to CDG. There are a few things that happen on AF flights that puzzle me and I'd be interested if anyone could answer them.

When general announcements are given to the cabin crew (doors to manual and cross check, prepare for landing etc) they are prefixed by a short phrase that I can't quite catch, is it BNC or perhaps DNC or even something different all together?

Why does the captain announce the last corner (dernier virage) just before parking? It seems mainly to be a signal to the pax to start undoing their seatbelts and standing up. I don't know of any other airline that does this.

Air France seem to count the passengers far more often than other airlines? Is there any reason?

These aren't complaints, just the sort of thing that goes through your mind while while waiting to take off.

[yggorf]

I think it's PNC, which probably means something like personnel navigant commercial or something in the same vein, to differentiate between the seigneurs, in the pointy end, and the plebes, back in the cabin.
And I, too, always wondered about this dernier virage thing...
As for CDG... You're absolutely right.

[Avman]

PNC or PDC? Could be: Personnelle De Cabine ?

[flyblue]

It says "PNC à vos portes, désarmez les toboggans, vérification de la porte opposée" (CC at your doors, desarm the slides, crosscheck).
"PNC" means Personnel Navigant Commercial, while the Flight Crew is Personnel Navigant Technique. "PN" (Personnel Navigant) includes both Pilots and CC.

The Captain announces the "dernier virage" because according to the SOP the Cabin Chief must make the announcement to disarm slides at that moment. It's become the custom that the PNT make this announcement because sometimes it can be not quite clear otherwise that it is indeed the "dernier virage".

AF is very strict about counting pax. This is done for security reasons, to avoid passengers missing or in excess. It is not quite known to the public, but it happens regularly everywhere (I'm not talking about CDG or AF in particular) that pax board the wrong plane or don't board at all. This is the reason why the CC check the boarding passes (they are not checking your seat number, but the date and flight number :} ) and then proceed with the headcount.

[the best civilian]

AF is very strict about counting paxI recently missed an appointment with a friend in Montreal because some dumbhead checked his luggage and never showed up at the gate. The recountings and subsequent luggage unloading resulted in a 1h30 delay.

On ne rigole pas avec la sécurité (No joking with security)

[Gouabafla]

Merci la super-modératrice!
Je savais que je pourrais compter sur toi!

(isn't it désarmement des toboggans?:)

[Juud]

Gouaba, these are commands, hence the imperative.
I'd think that AF, like us, has strict rules about their phrasing of commands.
For example, our pilots aren't even supposed to say 'please' at the end, again because they are commands, not requests.

fb will correct me if I'm wrong. :)

Good luck with your cold, and please try and behave human towards Mrs Gouaba! ;)

[flyblue]

Gouabs,

it is "Désarmement/Armément" (infinitive), but "Désarmez/Armez" (imperative) is widely used, the meaning is the same :)

[Gouabafla]

Thanks ladies!

I understand the grammar - I'm a linguist for my sins (though I tend to know more about African languages than European ones). I know that both forms of the verb are used, I was just trying (and failing):\ to tease FlyBlue a little. The Air France commands run through my brain when I'm falling asleep sometimes - I need to stay at home more often.

Thanks for the good wishes with the cold, Juud - I promise to be nice to Mrs G.

[TightSlot]

I no longer wish to be known as an 'In-Flight-Supervisor' - I now wish to be known as the 'Chef de Cabine' please





Slides = Toboggans? Everything sounds so much better in French! :sad:

[Gouabafla]

Slides = Toboggans? Everything sounds so much better in French!

Not only that, on BA I don't think they even mention the slides "doors to manual and cross-check". The English is functional, but the French add a whiff of vacances de ski, so much more fun.