Is this right?
 

As a well travelled passenger on many different airlines over the years, averaging 30/40 flight per year. I have always paid attention to safety briefings before each flight, having once incurred the wrath (quite rightly) of a BMI hostie 'cos I didn't put my paper down whilst she doing her stuff .
However, today, on an FR flight from Dublin to Luton, the girl was totally incomprehensible. There was plenty of volume etc, but she was either Russian, Eastern Bloc or similar, and frankly no one could understand a word she was saying as she frantically gabbled her way through the briefing - she might as well have been speaking Swahili....! Heaven knows what she would have been like under the stress of an emergency.
Whilst the £20 return fare was very welcome, are the boundaries being stretched too far here?? As a recently qualified PPL, I ensure my pax get a far better understanding of what to do in an emergency!! Where do the CAA stand on such issues??

I hate to say it but this is an increasingly common problem these days especially amongst the loco's but just them alone. I have major problems in BA trying to understand some of the PA's made by some of our eurocrew!!!

Was only thinking about this issue on a recent flight too, and it wasn't FR, and also thinking that with the amount of non english speaking pax on board European flights, that it should now become European law that the safety announcement accompanying the brief should be from a fully comprehensible recording through the PA and put out in the language of the originating and destined country if different......merely a thought!

I don't think it should be a problem for foreign people with a good grasp of English to make safety PA's. However, if the PA's cannot be understood I believe the mistake lies with recruitment.

On a cabin crew assessment day it is the recruitment team's responsibility to ensure all successful applicants can listen and clearly speak the English language.

On that Gatwick, I feel that if it cannot be understood by those who have English as their first language or if they even have to strain slightly to understand it, then the person should under no circumstances be making any PA's!

Think yourself lucky,

I was on a flight within Europe with a different carrier and there was no safety briefing.

I have just crewed a flight returning from Tel Aviv, a good 50% did not understand english (enough to understand demo). It was very difficult during cabin secure, turbulence etc etc. Had to move people in overwings.

Altho suprisingly everyone seemed to speak good english during duty free....until they had to pay!!!

Reality of life boys and girls. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. I hate to say this, but the airlines have been under too much pressure for too much time and shortcuts are the result. Now it is the cabin crew, maybe next the flight crew or something more scarely like maintenance. Like the original poster said the 20 gbp fair was most welcome, but did he realize that that was half the price of the bus fare. So why is that? Do you really think we can get the maximum safety for 20 gbp. Safety has a price ladies and gentleman. I for one am willing to pay it, are you?

There is a term in aviation called ¨tombstone technology¨, basically meaning something really bad has to happen before a change is made. We are just waiting for it aren´t we? It´s not too late but certainly close before midnight...:(

Thats where I disagree with you. I work for perhaps one of the most publicy percieved "Safe" airlines in the world however when was the last time you heard of Easyjet or Ryanair having a serious incident? I can think of a few that my own airline have had in the last few years and I still think we are the safest! To be honest, I dont think the major Loco's are cutting any corners when it comes to safety!

Tightslot makes a very valid point folks. Don't think by posting on pprune under a nickname your not accountable for your words. Think before you post!

This thread seems like a good argument for the recorded safety briefings done on the drop down screens, even if you don't understand the language they are visually designed for you to understand.

I was on a flight from Baku to Vienna earlier this week and the language difficulties were very apparent, this coupled with the fact that most of the passengers were Azeri and weren't frequent travellers made it even more difficult. The crew began their landing procedures a full 10 minutes before they usually did. Every other passenger had to be asked to stow their table, straigten their seat or open their window shade and none of them spoke english or german. Quite a difficult flight for the crew.

True Paddy...........but it is also true that English PA's should be made clearly also by English speaking people.......that is no strong accents!!!!!

And this is true also for communications in general on the aircraft...when I fly with some CC from Glasgow/Cardiff/Dublin I can barely understand any words on the interphone and always ask them to repeat themselves....which makes me look like an idiot, but I don't think I am the one to blame???

When I applied to AirEurope Italy, one of the tests on the first selection day was being able to speak English and being able to read PA's in Italian clearly and without any accent. We had a one day course on talking over the PA during our initial training and had to demonstrate that also when we had out State exam in Rome.
I believe BA used to have this as well during the initial course years ago but it has been cut due to the new expense-cutting philosophy.

FBW