Why are there so little cockpit announcements?

[vendetta]

Hey folks,

I am on a message board for people with fear of flying on a regular basis (for obvious reasons ) It's not a message board where we are "feeding" our fears, but it's a board with explanations of all the technical stuff to help us understand what's happening in an aircraft etc.

We were wondering why there are so little cockpit announcements during a flight because we all agree that this would help significantly to reduce our fears and to calm us down somewhat. Hence, I decided to open this thread and ask you pilots.

For instance, I have experienced alot that the seatbelt sign is being switched on without any explanation - needless to mention that that's not very helpful for frightened passengers. Or, another example, just some little info about the weather, weird noises (thrust etc) occuring during the flight etc. ... just some general information. Well ok the last thing might be demanded a bit too much, but you get the picture. I suppose there are so many people out there who have fear of flying and talking to us would definitely help. Hearing the voices from the cockpit that everything is alright would be really good.

I'm not saying that this happens everytime, don't get me wrong. For example, I had a superb flight 2 years ago where the pilot was giving announcements very often during the flight, and it was soooo helpful. Like, we are about to experience some turbulences, but don't worry, no serious stuff and it's only gonna take that long ... something like that. That was great. Or: we are flying over this country now and the weather conditions are expected to be good, all aircraft systems work fine atm and there is no need to worry Well yeah, that was a bit exaggerating again, but you know...just talk to us a bit more. Unfortunately it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

Hm. Yeah, so my question is, why is that? Why are you talking so little in general to the passengers? Not allowed to? No time? Don't want to?

I'm not making accusations - just wondering.

Thank you!

[Getoutofmygalley]

Speaking as Cabin Crew but not a Pilot, I see the passengers reaction when you get a chatty pilot who makes a lot of PA's and that the passengers generally want him (or her) to just shut up!

Whilst passengers who have a fear of flying might want an explanation of every single noise or bump that is felt, the regular traveller will want to get on with what ever they are doing (or sleeping) and not be woken up to say we have climbed/descended or whatever.

At my airline, whenever the fasten seat belt sign is switched on, we make an announcement as to why (landing or turbulence etc).

I remember flying with a lovely friendly captain a year or so ago on a morning flight to Malaga or Alicante (can't remember which) and the Captain after we had been flying about 30 minutes came onto the PA with the usual "We have reached our cruising altitude blah blah" and went on for around about 5 minutes with all sorts of wonderful stuff for the pax to listen too - and I actually had passengers say to me "Can't you shut him up?". Around about 20 minutes later he was on again saying "We are now flying over .... those of you on the left hand side will get an excellent view of .... later on we will be flying over .... " and so it went on for another 5 minutes or so. I didn't have the heart to say to this Captain that the passengers didn't appreciate his PA's because he was (is) such a lovely friendly chap and would be devastated to know the pax didn't enjoy his PA's.

My personal preference is for minimal PA's on an aircraft. If it was up to me we would have just the following:

• After take of (a safety related PA)
• Gift Shop (information PA)
• Brief update PA with expected time of landing (information PA from pilots)
• Further update PA around 30 mins to landing (information PA from pilots)
• Expected/Experiencing turbulence PA (a safety related PA when necessary)
• Before landing PA (a safety related PA)

If a nervous passenger makes themselves known to the Cabin Crew on boarding (and a lot of them do) at my airline we generally seat them near to the front of the aircraft so that during take off and landing we can keep an eye on them and try to calm and reassure them. Also, the front of the aircraft doesn't get so turbulent as the rear, so they don't get the bumps quite so bad.

[lexxity]

I think it's nice to hear from the Captain when you're flying over somewhere special, ie the Grand Canyon. I always remember the times when the Captain has pointed somewhere special out. Like the time we flew over Dubai at night, all those lights in the darkness were spectacular.

[angels]

Gotta go with Lexxi there.

I like announcements from the cockpit. Fair enough, on a long haul with everyone having/trying to have a kip, they arne't necessary in terms of 'sightseeing'.

But I remember a (day) flight between Las Vegas and Dallas where the pilot not only gave us info about the watershed in the U.S., but also pointed out some irrigation circles in the desert. 'They're exactly a mile wide. So now you know what a mile looks like from five miles up.'

He was chatty and I really enjoyed the flight.

Getoutofmygalley -

Gift Shop (information PA)

is just the sort of PA I don't want to hear!

[Skintman]

Announcements

As a regular biz and hol pax, I like plenty of announcements if the flight is delayed etc, but not the sightseeing stuff.

Best airline I've flown with for interest was Delta. You can listen in to the Pilot/ Air Traffic Control converstaions on your seat headset. Sure passes the time and I'm sure would help the fearful ones.

Skintman

[Globaliser]

Another passenger chiming in here: The complaint from those who fly regularly is that there are already too many announcements, both from the flight deck and the cabin crew. I know that some cabin crew are also fed up with the amount of stuff they have to recite as a matter of routine on each flight as well.

There are two other things to bear in mind.

One is that times when announcements from the flight deck would be really useful to everyone are often times when the tech crew is genuinely too busy to be able to do this safely. For example, when an approach has just been aborted and the aircraft is going around, passengers understandably want to know what's happening. But this is a period of extremely high workload on the flight deck, and the crew must keep focused on the things that are important, namely flying the aircraft.

The other is that on many flights, there will be many people who want to rest or sleep. This is so even if the flight is during the day: they may have just got off a long overnight flight, or their body clocks may be out of synch with local time, or they may have had a very early start just to get to the airport. It's courteous to them to keep the cabin quiet during the cruise phase of the flight. To a lesser extent, this also applies to those who are working.

[Middle Seat]

I'm SLF that doesn't care for a chatty pilot....or flight attendants who fancy themselves as comedians. PAs are good for preboarding announcements, turbulence warnings, service announcements, landing announcements, and that final one...

"On behalf of __ Airlines, we'd like to be the first to welcome you to ___ where the correct local time is __:__. We will be taxiing for a few more moments and ask that you remain seated with your seatbelt fastedned until the captain has brought the aircraft to a complete stop at the gate and has turned off the seat belt sign. That is your indication that it is safe to move about the cabin. Please be careful when opening the overhead bins as contents may have shifted during the flight. On behalf of this ___-based flight crew we thank you for flying with us today. We know that you have a choice of air carriers, and we thank you for your business, and the next time your plans call for air travel we hope you call on ____, or visit us on the web at www.____.com. Thank you and have a pleasant stay here, or whereever your final destination may be."

Untied offers channel 9 (pilot's discretion) enabling you to listen to Air Traffic Control, which can get pretty dull on a transPacific flight.

[lexxity]

Middle seat you really made me laugh with that, you must fly all the time to be able to recite the welcome spiel off pat.

I should clarify that I don't care for chatty stuff during a night longhaul (The one exception being the Dubai thing I mentioned), but on a boring intra european shorthaul or transcontinetal in the US, it can be quite nice, the Isle of Wight is really pretty from five miles up.

[TFlyguy]

The IoW is really pretty from ground level too!

[Getoutofmygalley]

Originally Posted by angels

Getoutofmygalley -

• Gift Shop (information PA)

is just the sort of PA I don't want to hear!

Let me make it clear, the only type of gift shop PA that I do lasts for a maximum of about 20 seconds - I know crew that do PA's for the gift shop that last for a staggering 2 or 3 minutes, and if I was pax on a flight with a PA being made listing off every different perfume, aftershave, gift, toy or gadget I would be extremely annoyed!

We have to do a gift shop PA because believe it or not, some pax would not realise that the gift shop has just gone past them (when we ask every single awake pax if they would like something!) and would complain that they didn't have the chance to buy that bottle of 'Brittney' or 'J Lo'

[vendetta]

Thank you all for your replies so far.

I do not expect the pilots to be "chatty" for the whole duration of the flight and I'm also not that interested in sightseeing information. And I understand that they have loads of stuff to do. And I can relate to passengers who want to sleep or rest. The thing is, I have been on flights where the cockpit crew didn't say a single word, seriously. But that happened only once or twice, so no big deal. My point is just, it is comforting when you hear the voices from the cockpit. Kinda like a sign that the captain and the co-pilot are still alive and doing their jobs - that everything is ok there.

I think it's also because when you are a bit fearful, what can you do for distraction? Reading or sleeping is hard when you are fearful. So you are in a state where you pay attention to every little changing noise and think about what it could mean and you imagine the worst-case-scenarios. In those cases, the voices from the cockpit and a bit of information would help so you see that those people "in charge of us" are still alive and kicking. So an announcement every now and then would be just cool

But I guess it's hard to find a solution that pleases everyone, since you mentioned the passengers who want to sleep and rest, which I understand. But see, that mostly applies to long-distance-flights only. And I was mainly talking about the 2 - 4 hours flights, so what about them?

[Tarq57]

I want to know the "important" stuff, reasons for delays, anything wrong, how long are we likely to be in this holding pattern, is there still two of everything, etc.
However, listening for the "important" stuff is often like trying to make out train station announcements...."passengers travelling to (garbled) should (garbled garbled) at platform (garbled) immediately..." (add non-english accent appropriate to your region)
The sound system, ironically, seems up to the task for advertising purposes.
Some flight crew (not all - some are very clear) could do with having a listen to their own p.a's from down the back, sometime.

[Bangkokeasy]

Have to go with Globaliser here, that in general, PA announcements are not welcome, the least the better. Particularly hated are the ones read off the card at breakneck speed in an incomprehensible accent, such as FR CC have a habit of imparting, or seatbelt announcements in the middle of the night on account of non-existent turbulence. Oh and while I'm at it, those stupid announcements on landing all over the Far East, to the effect that "Drug smuggling is a serious offence in (insert country), punishable by..." - Oh, and there was I thinking it was compulsory

A suggestion for Vendetta though, if concerned about noises and happenings on board, you might like to ask a fellow passenger, or failing that, CC, who would usually be happy to help allay your fears. I for one, would much rather share a few reassuring words, than sit next to an increasingly jittery person the whole flight.

Admittedly, some perfectly normal noises associated with flights can be a little unsettling, even for seasoned travellers. One that still gets me from time to time, is the loud clanking that some landing gear makes, when deployed or raised. However, I always make a mental note that it is better to have it, noise and all, than not...

[lexxity]

Vendetta have you ever mentioned to the cabin crew that you are scared of flying? I used to have a terrible time when flying and I mentioned it once to a cabin crew member on a bmi flight and they were fab!! They sat with me on take off and kept popping back to make sure I was ok and tell me that the noises I heard were all normal. Now I can get on a plane and be asleep by the time we take off.

[flash8]

Unless a company has a specific policy, you'll likely see a wide range of announcements ranging from the bare minimum through to believing you are on a sightseeing flight (and that includes the FO and cabin crew )

Some Commanders have the gift of the gab and won't shutup (or like to hear their own voice) whilst others hand all the announcements over to the FO.

Its human nature. Some like some don't. No different from the people down the back.

[knobbygb]

Despite all the reasons above, there do seem to be less announcements made these days than, say 10 years ago.

I personally (as just pax) put this down to the fact that pilots these days are less happy in their work - more worried about the latest "security" procedures, threats, management penny-pinching and backstabbing and are generally less inclined to make that extra bit of effort. To be honest I can't blame them. I know that probably isn't true of everyone, but the industry has changed so much... Also, people generally fly much more often now so often don't want the full explanation of exactly what's happening and that everything's going to be OK. I know there are nervous fliers still, but surely less than in the past, in general.

On a side note, one "sight-seeing" PA I always remember was from an ERJ captain over Arizona. He pointed out the little airfield where he learnt to fly. As a PPL that's something I could relate to. I think I'd be the type that wouldn't shut up : "Ladies and genetlemen, on the right you'll see a runway where I made a particularly late go-around due to a 15-knot crosswind a few years back...". Geek.

[Smiliesam]

Having been on 4 planes last weekend (Birmingham/Zurich/Budapest each way), I just wish I could have Understood the Voice from the Front. These guys seem trained in a cadence way of talking starting each sentence with a loudish consonent that fades into a mumble.........mmm

[SXB]

Getting back to the subject of nervous flyers Getoutofmygalley and Lexxity give great advice. Anyone who is nervous on an airplane should definately tell the CC.

I was on a multi sector trip last week and the passenger seated next to me asked the flight attendent for a glass of water while we were sat on the tarmac, he explained he was very nervous about flying. She was great, immediately explaining to him that on this aircraft type, a CRJ-200, there would be a loud 'clunk' just after take off as the gear is raised, much louder than on larger aircraft. She regularly chatted with him and answered his questions about turbulence in detail. She also came back and told him there would be another loud 'clunk' when the gear was lowered. On leaving the aircraft the first officer was saying goodbye to passengers and he greeted this particular passenger by name and invited him to visit the captain in the cockpit. I met him again by the baggage carousel and he still had a huge smile on his face.

These things may seem small to us but I could see the change in this guys manner as the flight went on. All credit to the crew of that aircraft, professionalism personified and led by the cabin crew.

For info this was an Austrian Airlines flight from VIE-SXB (via LUX)

[gorgeous spotter]

Originally Posted by Smiliesam

Having been on 4 planes last weekend (Birmingham/Zurich/Budapest each way), I just wish I could have Understood the Voice from the Front. These guys seem trained in a cadence way of talking starting each sentence with a loudish consonent that fades into a mumble.........mmm

Did you go with BA on any of the flights? I understood it that flight deck/crew with them were trained to 'talk properly' to passengers!!

[flybywire]

Originally Posted by Skintman

You can listen in to the Pilot/ Air Traffic Control converstaions on your seat headset. Sure passes the time and I'm sure would help the fearful ones.
Skintman

Good idea for the experienced travellers like you! However I believe that people who are scared of flying (and I mean scared by any bump/thrust-mechanical noise) would not appreciate it as much. F/D-ATC conversations can be very difficult to understand and a simple report of the pilots when they are visual with other traffic might send some people completely ballistic!!

I agree with Lexxity and getoutofmygalley, our pilots have some mandatory PAs they have to do exactly as us CC, however some of them tend to inform everybody if we're flying over something particularly important or beautiful.
I do not like long PAs as I see that most passengers tend not to listen anyway.
However if there's any person who is nervous about flying I make sure I keep them informed personally, talking face to face, if we're expecting any turbulence, and try to foresee the changes in noises for them like "we'll start our descent in a few minutes and you'll notice a reduction of noise from the engines, do not worry as this is entirely normal" etc etc etc.
It takes two seconds to make somebody feel better. I have even been able to sit next to people who were really scared for take off and landing.

So to sum it up, if you're scared of flying do not be scared to tell us!!! We do understand, believe me!!

FBW