Qwark
Not an Airbus driver, but if it had to do with the emergency descent scenario, the MEL would make reference to it as alternative procedures would have to be established. Like with PA. But I would say intercomm and headset are the primary means of communication, as they are the most clear/clean options.
Purely personal point of view:
From a physical point of view (common for all commercial jets I would say) emergency descents are like any emergency, all fine in the simulator and in the books, but reality will always be a bit of a surprise. Speakers work fine in a "noise clean" environment, but can be really annoying when noise levels start to increase, because noise will become a stress factor. It's a lot easier to rely on the headset, block the outside noise and control "inside headset noise" yourself, than having to curse your collegue because he just slammed the speaker on full. Reality can lead to some funny comms situations, especially when oxygen masks are involved :-).
Some think speakers are nice backups, but if she/he doesn't react to something, and you think there is a comm problem, just tap her/his shoulder... gently is enough and works like a charm :-)
Last edited by BraceBrace; 27th Feb 2021 at 09:30.