Flight Deck Announcements - To Passengers

[Northbeach]

I like this part of my job - most of the time

Know your audience. A flight full of business people headed to some financial capital on the first day of the business week are a completely different audience than the same jet full of holiday makers enroute to some tropical paradise. Taylor your flight deck announcements to the audience and time of day.

Tell pilots what to do, rather than giving them a string of endless negatives; don’t drone on, don’t repeat, don’t use technical terms.

On the way to work I listen to the radio and try to analyze the style of the program hosts and newscasters. I pay attention to how they apply their craft: volume, tone, inflection, and speed of delivery. It is true that, as a pilot, I am not in the “entertainment” business, however that doesn’t mean I have to sound ridiculous over the PA. There is nothing wrong from taking some coaching from people who broadcast for a living. My employer expects me to interact positively with our passengers-that includes the PA.

Regarding delays, just tell them the truth. I try to cover the basics (who, what, when, where and why); what happened to cause the delay (if appropriate), what is being done about the delay now, when are we going to have more information and when to expect a resolution or more information.

I enjoyed flying with a senior Captain who has since retired. He taught a “fear of flying seminar” in his spare time. I have used his advice regarding PAs and turbulence. It helps many people who genuinely fear the turbulence if you give them an estimated time frame as to how long the turbulence should last. I realize that it is not always possible to know how long the turbulence will last. Yet knowledge is power, and if the passenger has some time frame they are usually better able to endure the discomfort. I find it helpful to refer to turbulence as “unstable air” it is a neutral term and does not carry the emotional baggage that “turbulence” does for many people.

Seldom will you be able to please everybody. Ask for feedback from other pilots and the flight attendants; listen to your colleagues when they key the microphone. Many pilots are completely uninterested in talking to the passengers, and it is obvious when they pick up the microphone. Sometimes I just cringe at what I hear.