jimworcs, "
there is very little benefit for an English speaking person to learn a foreign language, for work reasons." That's fine if you fly from Liverpool to Belfast, but try flying a domestic flight in Italy, France or Spain and see how far you get with just English. You've obviously never tried separating a Gucci bag from a Signorina in an overwing exit.
If you work in Europe, French and Spanish would be useful as you can also pick up parts of Africa and South American tourists. The Portuguese and Italians might understand some Spanish too (and you might understand them if you speak Spanish). In my experience, the travelling Dutch and Germans are pretty good with English, whereas with Italians, unfortunately you will need to learn Italian (although you still have to shout at them anyway because they don't listen).
You don't need to be 100% fluent, but learning some vocabulary for an effective overwing briefing and cabin secure (seatbelt, bag, table, armrest, windowblind etc) makes your life easier and offers better customer service. With a couple of languages to choose from, usually you can find a common language to communicate in, even if it's neither of your first languages (you can also use other pax to help translate).
Yelling at non-English passengers is what Australian Customs are really good at. They seem to think that people will understand you if you keep raising your voice. Australian Customs are perhaps one of the most ignorant and rude bunch of border control people I have ever come across.
This is true! I couldn't believe the welcome after 30 hours flying having them shouting at everyone in the early hours of the morning. Totally unnecessary. Although I still think LAX is worse.