Couldn't see cabin safety briefing!

[Avman]

Mrs Avman being an ex F/A who always reads the safety card and pays meticulous attention to the safety briefings, I have been taught (= it’s been beaten into me), quite rightly, to show respect to the crew and do likewise - regardless whether or not it’s my 10th sector in a matter of weeks on the same type and same airline.

Today my view of the cabin safety briefing was blocked by a guy a few rows in front of me who, making a great show of ignoring the briefing, was reading his broadsheet newspaper whilst leaning against the seat top in front of him.

Yes, I did mention it to a crew member who took note of my comment and offered to rebrief me. However, I just thought I’d pass this little experience on via this forum for your future consideration. It might also be an idea for the Captain to add in his pre departure “pay attention to the cabin safety briefing” speel that pax should put down their newspapers whilst the briefing is in progress.

[Hypoxic Harry]

Avman,

It always is very annoying when pax talk, read papers, or just look out of the window whilst we are doing the saftey demo. But you can only hope that something that you are saying will sink in. Sure, it is a brilliant idea that all pax put down papers, books ect, but it just will not happen. We can not inforce that, although I wish we could. The only time I will tell a pax to pay attention the saftey demo is if they are talking extremley loud and it is interfering with other pax trying to hear and see the demo.

I always give a little nod, smile or wink to the pax that I know are listening to the saftey pa. They are easy to spot, as they are the ones that look around for the nearest exit, feel for the lifejacket, and read the saftey card. As much as it is respect, it could just save their butts, and that is the important thing.

Once I was flying with BA and I seen one FA go up to a group of pax that spoke througout the entire demo and said " I noticed that I did not have your full attention during the saftey demo, for your own saftey, I would like to make sure that you are aware where your nearest exit is". Of coarse they didnt know, but at least they knew after they had personally been told. They blushed, so here's hoping that next time they will listen.

[Final 3 Greens]

Harry

They are easy to spot, as they are the ones that look around for the nearest exit, feel for the lifejacket, and read the saftey card. As much as it is respect, it could just save their butts

Spot on mate.

I fly an average of 2 sectors per week and the variation in safety equipment, exit config etc. is amazing between sub types of the same a/c and airlines, never mind between different types.

It is respectful to listen to the safety brief, but as someone involved in consultancy and training, I am aware that the reinforcement of listening just before departure might stop me regressing to the experience from the last 737-400 cabin I was in, instead of the new gen that I'm in today.

Let's hope it never comes to it, but it could make a vital difference if things went pear shaped.

Avman

The inconsideration of other pax never ceases to amaze me.

[locky]

As a F/A I agree it is a little frusterating when passengers disregard the importance of the demo. Our comany does not instruct us to reinforce instructions ie: pax that are reading, talking etc.
I was deadheading on a EasyJet flight with 5 other f/a's. One of my collegues was chatting during the manual demo and the flight attendant preforming the demo stopped in mid-demo walked up to her and instructed her to stop chatting and to please listen. :ugh: Whoooppsssssssss
I had to giggle to myself!

[pulse1]

Having read this and other threads on this subject (and some comments by John Farley in Today's Pilot), I have recently decided to give all safety briefings my full attention.

However, I have just experienced that, on a SAS MD90, there are several seats aft of the galley, where you cannot see the briefing at all. After the briefing, one of the FA's waved a safety card in our direction and that was that. This makes some of the above comments seem a bit hypocritical.

On a seperate issue, can anyone explain why the FA had to take my jacket which was hanging on the hook provided, and stow it in the overhead locker for the landing and take off. On the flight out, I hung it on the seat in front of me and it stayed there all the time, as it usually does on any other flight. The seat aft of the galley has actually got more room than the other seats so I cannot see the problem. I'm not complaining, just interested to know the reason.

[Off Stand]

The reason we don't allow jackets hanging on tables at ezy is that in an emergency, the catch could move enough to drop the table down, thus block the route to the aisle of any pax sat next to you. Also, if the jacket dropped on the floor in an emergency, another passenger could trip on it and get trampled by others, so it is better to wear it or have it in the locker. It is fustrating to explain it on the ex GO a/c as most of them have hooks on the table catches for jackets and the 737-700's have hooks on the sides of the chairs.

[Trol E Doll]

Locky, I think that's the way to handle it. Do your Flight Deck Crew mention the safety briefing during their welcome aboard PA? Some of ours do, they even suggest to the passengers that they lower their magazines and put away their magazines for a few minutes. it generally works.

[reynoldsno1]

A few years ago a pax on a domestic flight in China asked the F/A why there had been no attempt at a safety briefing at all. He got one of those scary, inscrutable stares reserved for the terminally stupid - "We crash, you die"....

[Calle Belle]

Sometimes, it can go the other way completely. Last month I flew to an african country, and when checking the seatbelts, I found him wearing his lifejacket!!! At least he had not inflated it! HO HUM!

[jmccrew]

If cabin crew have undertaken a manuel demo then it is standard procedure to leave the lifejacket on while while checking seatbelts .
The reason being in case a passenger has any questions regarding how to correctly use it given that its not an item of everyday wear .

[jettesen]

I have to give my full applaud to easyJet crews as they are they tops when it comes to safety. They will take no sh*t when it is a matter of safety. I was on an ezy flt recently, the captain made a PA instructing everyone that the crew were about to show us a safety briefing, and everyone should stop talking and put books and newspapers down for the 3 minutes that it takes to complete the demo. Once the demo had started, The captain interrupted the demo and said that he was watching us all on the CCTV and people were still talking and reading newspapers. his I thought was great. The people who were still reading and takling were embarrassed by this comment and paid attention. The captain also told them that he was not willing to carry them if they were to continue reading and talking! Very good suggestion and think this will teach eb
everyone a lesson. Must be so annoying for the cabin crew to be ignored when they are trying to give a vital piece of safety info