Easyjet captain PA and use of ldg lt
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John R : I was confused with TOC. Humble pie was eaten last night.
On the subject of safety briefings, I flew a couple of weeks ago with Manx 2. The video safety briefings on screen were done by children, a very good attention grabbing idea and I think it worked! Certainly made a nice change.
On the subject of safety briefings, I flew a couple of weeks ago with Manx 2. The video safety briefings on screen were done by children, a very good attention grabbing idea and I think it worked! Certainly made a nice change.
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Well I don't see what we can do to make the safety briefing less pretentious, less dull. We don't have video screens so we can't show something like the horrendous Manx2/Thomson Airways kids videos.
I do think safety videos are a lot more attention grabbing, espcially the Air New Zealand ones, Deltalina and Virgin. But equally there are shockingly bad ones such as the THY/Man Utd video which makes me cringe.
I believe the pre-recorded annoucement was better received by passengers than being read manually, improving passengers feeling of being "safe and secure".
I feel it's formal and does the trick. And as for talking and not listening, I make sure people pay attention, espcially when I'm doing the demo mid cabin. It only takes one person talking loudly and before you know it everyone is talking and laughing along and those sensible ones who are listening cannot hear.
I also feel it's technically accurate. So I can only assume you are referring to a safety brief that was maybe read manually?
I honestly don't see what we can do to make it better. The day they have us do a Cebu Pacific style safety demo will be the day I resign.
I do think safety videos are a lot more attention grabbing, espcially the Air New Zealand ones, Deltalina and Virgin. But equally there are shockingly bad ones such as the THY/Man Utd video which makes me cringe.
I believe the pre-recorded annoucement was better received by passengers than being read manually, improving passengers feeling of being "safe and secure".
I feel it's formal and does the trick. And as for talking and not listening, I make sure people pay attention, espcially when I'm doing the demo mid cabin. It only takes one person talking loudly and before you know it everyone is talking and laughing along and those sensible ones who are listening cannot hear.
I also feel it's technically accurate. So I can only assume you are referring to a safety brief that was maybe read manually?
I honestly don't see what we can do to make it better. The day they have us do a Cebu Pacific style safety demo will be the day I resign.
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My impression with EJ is that their PAs are FAR too wordy - far too long and often patronising. The overall impression in the cabin is of being talked to death with PAs and that just makes people ignore them. If ever there was a case of less is more it is here.
And why do the flight crew have to tell pax about the weather on every PA? Surely once on the welcome aboard and at ToD is more than enough? Not much imagination goes into those, (and like the pax the FO's never listen to what the Capt said on the welcome aboard hence, I suspect, the duplication) but then there is no training whatsoever for pilot pas, just a rather poor and inimaginative guide in some obscure corner of a website somewhere. PAs are, imho, one of EJ's weakest points.
And why do the flight crew have to tell pax about the weather on every PA? Surely once on the welcome aboard and at ToD is more than enough? Not much imagination goes into those, (and like the pax the FO's never listen to what the Capt said on the welcome aboard hence, I suspect, the duplication) but then there is no training whatsoever for pilot pas, just a rather poor and inimaginative guide in some obscure corner of a website somewhere. PAs are, imho, one of EJ's weakest points.
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I must admit some PAs can be a bit long. Especially flight deck ones. Like when you're trying to serve passengers but the flight deck are describing every park bench you are going to fly over on the way to Destination X, first in English, then in French.
Get's very tedious. I do sometimes think "who cares, it's cloudy anyway, and we're still going to get there whether we know the route or not". But on the other hand it makes up for the lack of moving map which I know a lot of pax miss.
I like to use the pre-recorded ones as much as possible as the automated one is much more discreet and unobtrusive. I'd rather that at 6 am than someone shouting down the PA trying to sell me a cheese and ham melt! It's better for the flight deck too as they don't hear the pre-recorded standard PAs.
However, at my base we score very highly on the quality of PA's when we do customer service surveys and that includes both cabin and flight crew annoucements.
But, one PA you can't help but love is the automated funcard PA.
Get's very tedious. I do sometimes think "who cares, it's cloudy anyway, and we're still going to get there whether we know the route or not". But on the other hand it makes up for the lack of moving map which I know a lot of pax miss.
I like to use the pre-recorded ones as much as possible as the automated one is much more discreet and unobtrusive. I'd rather that at 6 am than someone shouting down the PA trying to sell me a cheese and ham melt! It's better for the flight deck too as they don't hear the pre-recorded standard PAs.
However, at my base we score very highly on the quality of PA's when we do customer service surveys and that includes both cabin and flight crew annoucements.
But, one PA you can't help but love is the automated funcard PA.
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Just to know. Do you prefer a captain's (or FO) pa about 1 min long in which he tells the name of the first officer, the name of the purser , the reminder of the safety demo, the departing rwy, the heading we will follow (north,south etc) flight time, weather along the route and finally cruising altitude. Or a quite short pa telling flight number, flight time, weather at destination and when he will do a pa again in flight for the route and time at destination ?
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It could probably mean both, Capot, but does it really matter?
I've been taught that some people like lots of PA talk (as rightly pointed out above, to make up for the lack of a moving map), some people like none at all and quite a few people just like some soothing pilot babble to reassure them they aren't going to arrive 3 hours late in a different airport to that expected. But you have to work very, very hard to fill more than 2 minutes of chat. Is that so hard to bear for a business traveller on a mid-day flight when half the cabin is going on holiday?
I'm sure there is no "right" answer, but hopefully we find the right middle ground more often than not.
By contrast, RYR service from East Mids to Belfast managed so many different PAs in the 35 minutes it took to get across the Irish Sea, at such great volume, that even reading became impossible. Which, I guess, was probably the point!
I've been taught that some people like lots of PA talk (as rightly pointed out above, to make up for the lack of a moving map), some people like none at all and quite a few people just like some soothing pilot babble to reassure them they aren't going to arrive 3 hours late in a different airport to that expected. But you have to work very, very hard to fill more than 2 minutes of chat. Is that so hard to bear for a business traveller on a mid-day flight when half the cabin is going on holiday?
I'm sure there is no "right" answer, but hopefully we find the right middle ground more often than not.
By contrast, RYR service from East Mids to Belfast managed so many different PAs in the 35 minutes it took to get across the Irish Sea, at such great volume, that even reading became impossible. Which, I guess, was probably the point!
On one recent EZY flight teh Cpt stood at the front to explain a delay and again on exit. Thought it very sweet thing to do. Don't much care really about differences though I wouldn't be overly impressed by a safety video with children.
Yes, the landing lights in the A320 can help a little with descent when you've been left high and close in. You don't want to put them out too fast though - quick way to strip the gearbox and they're costly units.
In the 737 at one stage we would have everything out at 10000 as SOP; it quickly changed when gearbox's were stripped regularly. Then it changed back again with increased bird strikes, then back again when fuel became expensive......you get the idea.
In the 737 at one stage we would have everything out at 10000 as SOP; it quickly changed when gearbox's were stripped regularly. Then it changed back again with increased bird strikes, then back again when fuel became expensive......you get the idea.
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This thread has yet again shown me why I shouldn't bother trying to help, a reasonable question has been turned into a debate about my spelling (sorry) A320 landing lights & the style of safety videos with (I suspect) mostly non pilots telling pilots they are idiots.
Waste of time.
Don't bother responding, I won't read it.
Waste of time.
Don't bother responding, I won't read it.
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I think the line "please pay attention to the safety briefing etc." achieves absolutely nothing. Those who wish to listen will, those who don't won't.
As for the recorded easyJet safety demonstration, I thought it was pretty good, but I've only heard it once. It's calm, clear, audible and understandable (and my God is that a common shortcoming in safety PAs, as I've said here before). Whether it describes the safety points of the A320 aircraft accurately, I am not qualified to say.
My two pence worth on the flight deck PAs is that a lot of passengers do appreciate them. In fact, they and the safety briefing are the only ones I listen to properly. But you'll never please everyone - some people have no interest in the flight details, others (like me) find it the most interesting aspect of the entire experience.
What are problematic, though, are mumbling/inaudible/waffly PAs. They really don't give the right impression. A friend (and 'nervous flyer') once said to me that she really wished some pilots didn't pause before giving the destination, as if they just needed to check. If you speak quickly, it's possible to say:
Ladies and Gentlemen, good afternoon from the Flight Deck. My name is John Smith. I am the Captain. My colleague on the Flight Deck is Senior First Officer Alan Jones. Alan is the pilot flying for this sector, so he will fly you to London Stansted this afternoon.
Our flight time will be approximately one and half hours. We'll cruise at 38,000ft and our routing will take us out to Paris, then up to the Channel, over London and into Stansted most probably from the East.*
The cabin is supervised by Jeremy#, who is assisted by Katy and Holly. They will shortly run you through a safety demonstration for this Airbus A320. This briefing is for your benefit alone, so please pay them the courtesy of listening to it. It will only take a couple of minutes.
I hope you enjoy the flight. We'll update on our progress once we're in the cruise. Thanks for your attention.
Our flight time will be approximately one and half hours. We'll cruise at 38,000ft and our routing will take us out to Paris, then up to the Channel, over London and into Stansted most probably from the East.*
The cabin is supervised by Jeremy#, who is assisted by Katy and Holly. They will shortly run you through a safety demonstration for this Airbus A320. This briefing is for your benefit alone, so please pay them the courtesy of listening to it. It will only take a couple of minutes.
I hope you enjoy the flight. We'll update on our progress once we're in the cruise. Thanks for your attention.
Nick
*Apologies for invented/implausible flight routings!
# Sorry, I couldn't resist.
In my experience I get more attention paid to the demo when i read it. Theres is nothing wrong per sa with the pre-recorded one but I personally feel that my demo voice is more authoratative. Reading that, some here may think i'm being above my station but thats what is needed IMO. On a lively flight to TFS or PMI, you need to make sure it's loud and clear and the PRM doesn't always achieve that. And pre-recorded funcards/sales PA's just scream that the crew can't be arsed.
Some crew admittedly shouldn't be let near a PA and I cringe at PA's made by some of my colleagues. Ideally, PA's should be fairly short and snappy and made at the discretion of the crew. For example, a PA for the bar/food service shouldn't list every product in the brochure but one or two crew members do.
The number of PA's are sometimes necassary, sometimes not. Ultimately, we all, generally speaking, pay too little for our fares and this has to be made up through onboard sales. On my flights, the full lot will get read on a longer flight as they can be spaced out nicely but on shorter flights I make sure they are condensed and sometimes tagged onto another PA. Again, on a busy longer flight I might combine a 'final drinks' PA with something that is definitely practical......i.e landing cards.
Some crew admittedly shouldn't be let near a PA and I cringe at PA's made by some of my colleagues. Ideally, PA's should be fairly short and snappy and made at the discretion of the crew. For example, a PA for the bar/food service shouldn't list every product in the brochure but one or two crew members do.
The number of PA's are sometimes necassary, sometimes not. Ultimately, we all, generally speaking, pay too little for our fares and this has to be made up through onboard sales. On my flights, the full lot will get read on a longer flight as they can be spaced out nicely but on shorter flights I make sure they are condensed and sometimes tagged onto another PA. Again, on a busy longer flight I might combine a 'final drinks' PA with something that is definitely practical......i.e landing cards.
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I found excellent in ezy i think because of the delay in flight mad-mxp and olb-mxp. The english captain made his PA only in english explaining the cause of the delay then the purser translated in spanish and italian the captain pa. It had never happened in others airlines
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Landing lights are an airmanship issue. As long as they're off by 10'000ft it's pilot discretion at easy when they're used. In London TMA I try to leave them on if there is a lot of traffic, as even if you can see other aircraft on TCAS, it's nice to be able to pick them out against the sky so you can see which way they're actually flying - TCAS isn't THAT accurate for tracks. For small airfields I put them on below 10'000ft so that GA traffic can see me, I would hope they also have their lights on so they can be seen.
I tend to turn them off in situations such as cloud, speeds above 250kts and low visibility (to help pick out runway lights and avoid the reflecting light blinding us.)
PA's for pilots at easy are up to the individual. Yes I'm boring and say the same stuff every time. Normally boarding, TOC and TOD if a long sector or just TOD for a short one.
I tend to turn them off in situations such as cloud, speeds above 250kts and low visibility (to help pick out runway lights and avoid the reflecting light blinding us.)
PA's for pilots at easy are up to the individual. Yes I'm boring and say the same stuff every time. Normally boarding, TOC and TOD if a long sector or just TOD for a short one.
There seem to be two parallel discussions on this thread, landing lights and PA's. A small comment on PA's. Beyond the standard announcement mentioned by Nicholas49 which is clear and precise and to the point, I think they vary as much as the individual characters of the person making the PA. I enjoy the captain informing passengers and saying "if you look out to right you will enjoy a view of such and such..." . I remember many years ago on a Cyprus Airways flight as we made our way over the Aegean Islands towards London, the Captain began pointing out the various islands as we flew over them and talking about the Greek mythology associated with each place in a lighthearted and humerous way. He had everyone enthralled. I thought it was a wonderful gesture and showed great character on his behalf.
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In easyjet usually who perform the PA? In Italy, generally, on ground always the captain, during flight the pilot flying.
On ground is only the captain the pilot flying or even first officer can taxy the aircraft?
On ground is only the captain the pilot flying or even first officer can taxy the aircraft?
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As it is an extra option that costs money, most LCCs don't have tillers installed on the FO's side. Do not know specifically about easyJet but I would guess that this is the case with them.