BA crew

[traveller5]

As a frequent traveller, can anyone explain why BA crews love the sound of their voices on the passenger announcement system? My latest trip was from JFK-LHR and before we had left the stand there were 5 announcements, mostly repetitive and over the top, followed by the captain speaking. After take off, the in charge steward spoke for about 5 minutes, then another one from another crew member and then the captain again talking about nothing. The MOST irritating is about 1hr 30 from landing when you are still relaxing, the personal TV screen constantly goes blank for 4 or 5 crew announcements....and about 1 was safety related!
Believe me, passengers don't want cabin crew earache on a longhaul flight!

My other experiences, notably with VS and JAL, is I only remember hearing the crew before take off and before landing and in fact on JAL, big messages come on the video screen while movies playing re duty free, fasten seat belts for turbulence etc etc. Calm flights!

[CabinCadet]

Perhaps they were trying to be friendly\helpful\informative???

Why don't you try these next time on BA... (http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=ear+plugs&meta=)

[LondonJ]

because it's a pain when it mutes your film but doesn't pause it so you end up rewinding the thing over and over.

1 flight deck announcement, 1 senior cabin crew announcement and 1 safety briefing is all ya need. And keep the former pair to the point, and don't say 'we hope you have a relaxing flight', isn't that what you're there to ensure.

[ionagh]

Only 5 !!

You could try AF (CDG-KIX) and you will get all those repeated in French, English and Japanese.

I dont even bother to switch on any entertainment equipment until after I am quite sure that the PAs have ended. As you say, its not fun missing so many bits of films...

FF maybe, but there are always first-time pax who probably are interested and they should be the target audience.

Ionagh (300,000+ airmiles and getting equally bored...)

[traveller5]

cabincadet - are you maybe a crew member who likes the sound of their voice, but doesn't actually say anything relevant? On the aforementioned JFK-LHR the main cabin announcement ex-butlins show host took delight in saying things like, "you are travelling on a 747-400 today with 4 huge, but beautiful engines that will....(whatever the rest was)....Or "We will shortly be serving a deliciously prepared meal of.........so, have a think now of what you'd like..........bla,bla, bla.....
Yes, I think BA is a good airline, BUT its staff definitely make or break a flight and on this occasion Mr Butlins had forgotten he wasn't on stage! Leave us alone to relax and watch the film etc!

[brain fade]

Regrettably I agree. It's even worse on short hual where all the same pa's are compressed into about an hour. It's as boring as hell and I am oftimes glad to get off just to get peace and quiet.
And if I'm wished a safe and pleasent onward journey one more bloody time..................

We should cut right down on these pa's and give our customers a bit less earache!:zzz:

[BA Boi]

Would you prefer us to say "F**K O*F, YOU C***S!" then instead? Because believe me, I'd LOVE to. :ok:


It was supposed to be a joke, right?

CC Forum Mods

[barry lloyd]

If that's your attitude, it's time for a change of job mate - I believe Aeroflot are recruting...

[OzzieO]

Oh dear BA boi that wasn't a very helpful or constructive comment to make now was it?

Maybe I can shed a bit of light on why so many PA's are made especially during the boarding process.

I have just returned from Nairobi this morning. On leaving we had a fairly busy flight about 70% full. The welcome onboard PA was made about 4 times. I understand it can be frustrating to hear the same thing over and over again but with the introduction of the new club world beds its now a CAA requirement that the floor area around the seat is TOTALLY free of anything. And thats means everything, handbaggage, blankets, pillows, shoes etc.

I guess the PA is made on several ocassions because it would take us for ever to get the aircraft ready for take-off if we didn't make these PA's several times.

After take off the CSD makes one PA to tell the passengers what they will be having in terms of catering etc on the flight but that was the last PA made until about 1 hour before landing.

I understand your frustrations but it is for good reason.

[AJ]

Traveller 5, I'm crew with BA and I totally agree....gotta make allowances for prima donnas and drama queens though....

[apaddyinuk]

Hello... Im Crew with BA too and Im well used to flying with those who love the sounds of their own voice...Recently worked the PA position on a 777....CSD kept her PA's short but sweet but one of the girls kept calling me asking if she could do the PA...Being up to my eyeballs of couse i said she could...BIG mistake...she wouldnt shut up with her overly eager PA's....Youd swear she was trying to deliver the Queens speech!!!! I made sure on the next sector I gave them a brief blast of PADDY and kept it to a minimum!!!

[747-436]

I came back on BA from the States a few weeks ago and as soon as the wheels were up the CSD came on the PA and started talking for a good 5 minutes about various things!!

[egnxema]

While we are on the PA subject - It is also intensely irritating when the English announcements are delivered at high speed with a strong european accent.

LoCo's seem to be the worst.

Please don't misunderstand me - I am not refering to talking quickly, or in a regional accent. I am talking about the flight attendant from the Med who has probably said the said PA Announcement 6 times that day who scrambles through the "words" and only pronounces "Thank you" clealy enough to understand.

I also feel the same about the annoucements that are read on Eurostar services: - James obviously from Hampshire, speaks English and French - but has learned to read Dutch - the Dutch pax are making faces as they strain to understand him.

SOLUTION: - Why can't standard Boarding/Taxi and post take-off announcements be recorded, spoken by a fluent speaker of the 2 most likely needed languages for the sector?

"Whiohd efd odgfj pojjrw jero kgwejrw fowi ower pwt ekewtew, Thank you!"

[Hand Solo]

You think thats bad? Try 11 (yes 11) seperate PAs in a 45 min AMS-LHR sector.

[wiggy]

Yep it is a pain, and as a frequent flyer on both sides of the Flight Deck door I agree, but don't blame the crew. A lot/most of the PA content in BA is dictated by the lawyers, bless em, who are covering the Corporate 6 - hence the yack about: codeshares (that one is a result of the Swissair accident off Halifax), paying attention to safety briefs, seat belts (at all times), seat belts (over blankets) - ......and that is just the Captains welcome onboard PA....
Then there is the Cabin Crew's mandated stuff such as the safety brief........and just after takeoff, just when you thought it was safe, the wellbeing/don't keep still PA (i.e. now we've told you, you can't sue us if you get DVT)............and then, of course, just when you've nodded off you get the "40 minutes to go PA"...........(that one, I agree, comes out of the Nanny State school of PAs but it's funny how long some people take to get dressed).

Of course if passengers didn't threaten to sue airlines most of this would not be neccessary

[Paul Wilson]

Just remember that if your still talking 30 seconds after starting a PA there is only one person listening - you.

[apaddyinuk]

But at the end of the day guys....Was the service good and the crew friendly????

[Psr777]

I think it is an unfair title for this thread!

It is not just a small minority of BA crew who are guilty of loving the sound of their own voices, but it is across the board of airlines that I have flown with, both international and domestic.

It is nothing to do with the airlines themselves, they do not train us to go on and on and on and on, unfortunately, some crew try to pre-empt the problems they could potentially face by trying to give the customer every single piece of information some of them need at the same time !!!

I can understand the frustrations of the customers, especially the more frequent travellers who know everything they need to know, especially not to turn on mobile phones and when they can use laptops etc....;) ;)

Using the PA system when the Inflight Entertainment is on, with a system that doesn't pause the playback though, is inexcusable, there is just no need for it.

Some crew are guilty of loving their own voices, albeit a small amount and certainly not the majority of us. In all fairness, the UK crew announcements compared to the US annoucemts I have heard pale in comparison . . . . .:ooh: :ooh: :ooh: