Cabin P/A''...Thank you cabin crew for all your hard work...''
 

hi boys and girls

airline chap since 1972 (not CC, except one lazy hot summer flying holidaymakers in the good old days as a temp posting on 707's, that was super fun)

please tell me why this newish announcement is often made now from the number one crew or sometimes the flight deck,
''thank you cabin crew for all your hard work etc etc etc''
heard it last week back from JFK,

whats your opinions of this...

personally i, as a pax wld like to thank you personally if you have looked after me which i always do (even if its been some frosty soul lol)
and then your nbr 1 should at his/her debrief praise or debacle as ness...

it makes me cringe when i hear it sorry but it does...its creepy,

what do you boys and girls think?

cheers

also btw a young male cc to JFK who was looking after me in p/econ came up me and to all his pax just before landing and said it was his pleasure to have looked after me today and wished me a super time in NYC, he was genuine in his manner, and i have not had this happen to me for as long as!
as he was not on the door for disembarking (his stn was door 3L) i thought this was great of him.
very impressive,

It seems to be a BA thing, and as such it may be a dictat from on high. I will ask ?

Nothing wrong with the Captain, F/O or CSD / Purser thanking anybody for their hard work in my opinion, but why do it over the public address system ? If somebody hadn't pulled their weight I doubt they would use the same method for communication.

It really does send the wrong message. When (as a crewmember myself) travelling as a passenger, I think, "what have I done to make this crews perfectly ordinary day such hard work ?" The reality of travelling these days, is that it is extremely "hard work" for the passenger. They are required to arrive hours before the flight despite having "checked in" online in most cases. They have to stand in a long queue called "fast bag drop". They have to stand in another, often very long queue, for security where they are again subject to the mild indignity of having to remove bits of their ordinary clothing. They are then often frisked before being unceremoniously deposited in a large overcrowded shopping mall where they will endure more queues if they wish to enjoy the privilige of buying an overpriced sandwich or cup of coffee. Eventually they will be summoned to the departure gate (often miles away) where again they will sit in a crowd to eventually join the scrum to either board the aircraft or be herded into a bus. Hours after the start of the ordeal, hopefully they will get to sit on the aircraft and start the journey that was all they either wanted or were forced to do. At the end of this journey are they thanked for enduring this ritualized torture ? No, the cabin crew ( who are paid to do the job) are thanked for all their hard work ! Is it any wonder people are exasperated and confused ?

No doubt someone in a particularly pink and fluffy CRM moment, thought this was a good idea, however it is extremely patronising to even the most undisgruntled passenger ( of which there are few these days !)


As a postscript, my wife is senior crew with said company and she has confirmed that it is indeed a requirement of the company. Apparantly this is based on customer feedback that it is seen as a "positive" comment and reflects the projection aspects of "teamwork" etc. etc. Presumably this is similiar to the customer feedback that is always trotted out in rebuttal whenever a complaint is made or criticism is levelled. Anyway the point is that it is not the fault of the crew, they are told to do it. :yuk:

Ignore it - I do. My employer has loads of sensationally stupid management ideas, dreamed up by people whose combined knowledge of how work in an aircraft cabin is actually done wouldn't fill a used sick bag.

The wonderful thing about flying is that once the doors are closed, they can't look over your shoulder any more - it's your cabin (well the Captains' actually, but you know what I mean) so you can get on with the important business of doing what people really want, not what some teenage blue-flame in marketing imagines that they want.


:E

thank you beazlebub and the moderator for superb replies...

btw i flew on the 'other' uk LH airline, they do it too!

i loved the way you also outlined what the pax have to endure just to sit on the plane , yes, its not fun is it...a very balanced view, i hope alot of crew read this.

likewise nowadays the crew are also subjected to humiliation at various checks and daft security staff and policies which all adds to the dump of stress on everyone.hateful.

i dont have at all any really 'bad' flights only usually ones where i get off and i genuinely wish to thank the boys or girls for myself and not, as you said by some pink and lefty fluffy bunny directive in h/o who thinks this is todays new soundbite yuk LOL

funnily enough the only 'bad' flights i ever have been on recent years is the holiday flights....
can someone please remind a few of the crew that the punters (some are nice remember) are going on holiday!
i know its 6am on a freezing morning at LGW and you have been put there against your will from a vile standby but please smile!:D

Well, like I said on another thread in SLF, it makes me feel like vomiting.

If I'd just finished a keynote talk or facilitating a workshop and my client said "thanks for all your hard work", I don't know if I would be more stunned or embarrassed :confused:

Nothing wrong with the Captain, F/O or CSD / Purser thanking anybody for their hard work in my opinion

Agreed Beazelbub and it's demonstrating good people management skills to do this; IMHO it would also be sincere, rather than 'behfel ist behfel.'

Certainly not told to do it, in fact if memory serves we were told the opposite a number of years ago, the reason given at the time was that the crew didnt think it sounded very good.

I agree that the PA is not the place to be thanking your cabin crew, save it for the crew bus!

I know one airline the Flight Deck thank the whole crew for their hard work before saying doors for arrival.

I think it's a nice gesture to the crew.

I work for the red white and blue airline in question and we've been told numerous times NOT to say "thank you for your hard work" or similar over the pa system. The reasoning being that it's not professional. Simple.

When/if a pilot says it, I usually cringe, as it's embarrassing.

Gg

I think it sounds tacky, but am not bothered.

What really bothers me is a Captain or FSM/Purser/CSD/CSM refering to us as "My Crew". We are a team, and not owned by any single person.

quote from the above poster I JUST WANT TO FLY

''I think it sounds tacky, but am not bothered.
What really bothers me is a Captain or FSM/Purser/CSD/CSM refering to us as "My Crew". We are a team, and not owned by any single person.''

unquote

well i think i, and others here will beg to differ maybe?

you are part of the crew and its HIS aircraft...so therefore when he refers to 'my crew' then thats just what you are.
you should be proud to part of 'his' crew, yes the cabin crew are a team and you have a number one crew member but the 'boss' is the skipper, just like on the queen mary ocean liner...
you are HIS crew.same.

why does it bother you? i'm interested...:O

by saying you do not kinda recognise the 'boss' its almost like saying you approve of the same type of lefty management penpushers (sorry lol) in approving the horrid annoucement in the first place...
oh lets all group hug and be fluffy and we are ALL the team....;)

Ah the "my crew" argument...... I don't see the problem either. I'm sure Willie refers to us as "his" employees ( amongst other things :ok:). I too, wonder why it upsets some people.....(mind you I hate being called "Flight Deck")

As for the PA thanking the crew - I don't do it, don't like it, and yes it makes me cringe when I'm sat in the Cabin..but I always say thank you on the crew bus.

'Seats for landing' isn't the time for thanking the crew for all their hard work as it implies that the flight is now 'over'.

As recent experiences have shown, the flight isn't 'over' until you're on that crew bus!

its realy nice for the captain on no1 to thank the crew for their hard work, sometimes people like to have a winge about the most stupid of things

WiggyExactly! Totally unprofessional imho. Say it on the bus to the car park along with your farewells. Time and place for everything, and everything in its place.

NEVER happens on my flights (by me). The flights are about the passengers, not the crew.

hurrah

seems the consensus then from ALL sides is that its pretty naff to make this announcement...

i'll speak to willy and sir rich:O

What a super thread rog747!:D

Thank you for your hard work cabin P/A
 

As a no 1 on the last sector I always say "Cabin crew thank you and prepare your doors for arrival." Alot of crew have commented on how it makes them feel appreciated and alot of passengers have commented on how it looks good on an the airline to have the Senior thanking the crew for their work as it shows they are appreciated even when the flight has been especially difficult or hard. I and alot of crew don't think it's tacky but shows good team work and appreciated staff.

rog!

What a crock!! get over it and move on!!! If you fly as much as you say you do, then you are probably one of these people who have total disregard for the PA anyway!! Whats your damage man!!!!??? Thanking your crew in front of pax, to me, shows to them (punters) that people in a position of authourity care about their crew/collegues/friends after what could have been a long/tedious/ or even UNeventful day!!

NEXT!!!

I say...
 

Just after receiving the disarming confirmation on the last flight with a crew, I always say: "Cabin crew, thank you" over the p/a-system. It's much appreciated, and I'm the only purser that does that in my airline. The other ones couldn't care less - unfortunately. :ugh: