Think before you speak...

Al Bundy

Al Bundy

Well-Known Member
Riding around on other airlines lately, and made an observation. I dunno, maybe the cold, dark months of winter have gotten to me, but...
- "Hello ladies and gentlemen. Welcome aboard flight 5735 service to XYZ..."

Nobody cares about what the flight number is. They are on the plane that is taking them to Cleveland. That's all they care.

- "..skies are broken at 1,500 feet."

Nobody has any idea what a "broken sky" is. Quit reading the ATIS when giving the weather info. If you must tell them the weather (see below) give them the 6pm news version. "Cool, breezy and mostly cloudy. Temps in the mid 50's."

- If you're going into a hub- why even give a full weather report? 95% of the people you are carrying are connections and will never see the outside. That, and a good chunk of them are on the wifi and can look that info up (if desired) while enroute.

- "Sit back-relax-and enjoy the flight" cliche.

Really? They're crammed in the seat now. Someone next to them took off their shoes. The seats/tray table/carpets are filthy. It's not 1950 anymore (unfortunately) and this is no longer a magical and privileged experience. It's hell. "We're going to get you there and get you out of this airplane as quickly as possible" would be better received.

- "Hello everyone- Captain Bob from the flight deck..."

Don't tell them your name. They don't care. They also don't care if you flew for the Navy/Air Force/Merchant Marine/Salvation Army/whatever. They don't care what the combined flight time of the pilots are. They don't care.

What they do care about is quiet, which you are interrupting. The PA's are loud, and on some airplanes you're pausing their movie or live TV link.

Please think before you press the PA button. Hopefully the thought is then..."Meh, maybe not."

Sorry...rant over. I gotta bundle up and go out to see if my truck will start, and shovel the driveway. Again.
 
Hey folks, just letting you we arent asleep up here. Ive taken a look at the weather and its better where we are going than where I'll end up tonight. If you're coming with us I apologize, but I'm up here and I'm not forgetting about you all in the back that pay my bills.

If you can't get the wifi working and want some gate or weather information ding them and theyll pass it along to me. Otherwise enjoy Avengers, Age of Ultron for the third time.
 
Al Bundy said:
Riding around on other airlines lately, and made an observation. I dunno, maybe the cold, dark months of winter have gotten to me, but...
- "Hello ladies and gentlemen. Welcome aboard flight 5735 service to XYZ..."

Nobody cares about what the flight number is. They are on the plane that is taking them to Cleveland. That's all they care.

- "..skies are broken at 1,500 feet."

Nobody has any idea what a "broken sky" is. Quit reading the ATIS when giving the weather info. If you must tell them the weather (see below) give them the 6pm news version. "Cool, breezy and mostly cloudy. Temps in the mid 50's."

- If you're going into a hub- why even give a full weather report? 95% of the people you are carrying are connections and will never see the outside. That, and a good chunk of them are on the wifi and can look that info up (if desired) while enroute.

- "Sit back-relax-and enjoy the flight" cliche.

Really? They're crammed in the seat now. Someone next to them took off their shoes. The seats/tray table/carpets are filthy. It's not 1950 anymore (unfortunately) and this is no longer a magical and privileged experience. It's hell. "We're going to get you there and get you out of this airplane as quickly as possible" would be better received.

- "Hello everyone- Captain Bob from the flight deck..."

Don't tell them your name. They don't care. They also don't care if you flew for the Navy/Air Force/Merchant Marine/Salvation Army/whatever. They don't care what the combined flight time of the pilots are. They don't care.

What they do care about is quiet, which you are interrupting. The PA's are loud, and on some airplanes you're pausing their movie or live TV link.

Please think before you press the PA button. Hopefully the thought is then..."Meh, maybe not."

Sorry...rant over. I gotta bundle up and go out to see if my truck will start, and shovel the driveway. Again.
Click to expand...

Actually, per FOM it's a required announcement, though it does say to avoid aviation jargon such as "...broken at 1500'."

Customer feedback is that the majority want the announcements and there are spot checks on doing them.
 
Saying "flight" in a PA is entirely redundant, they know they are on an airplane.

"With service to..." Don't say service, you will remind them how they actually get none.

Don't tell them what city they are going to, what if you divert? You'll look like a real heel then.

Pardon my sarcasm, I live in a snow free zone. I'm with you on ATIS reading.
 
I'm not sure how they make it past the gate, but I have had people get on the wrong airplane, especially when going to cities with the same names. Such as Albany, GA versus Albany, NY. Panama City, FL versus Panama City, Panama (I had to do a gate return on the ATR once for someone who thought they got on the plane to Panama). There have been cases of pax getting off the airplane, looking around and going, "Oh snap." I actually almost got caught. Ran to catch a jumpseat on a flight that was late. Gate showed the destination I wanted, so I sprinted up to the gate agent and asked if it was too late for the jumpseat. She was irritated, but got me on. The captain started making his announcement welcoming folks aboard the flight to Montgomery, AL. Me- "Ummm.... we're not going to La Guardia???" Captain gave me a funny look, but politely told me that was the next flight from the gate. The agent changed the display before she closed the door for the Montgomery flight. Fortunately door was still open and gate attached so I got off feeling like an idiot.
 
The only people that complain about aviation jargon in PAs are pilots. Everyone else either doesn't notice it doesn't care.

Now, when you're at the gate making a slightly disgruntled/defensive tone PA about how "I just fly the plane, I don't make the rules about when we can leave, and we need blahdee blah cieling, and I don't make the decisions about when and where we go I just fly the plane" like I heard a Skywest captain do one time that might make even the jaded pax start wondering wtf.

Also side note, iDevice autocorrects "skyweezy" to "Skywest".
 
1. Don't lie.
2. Don't throw someone under the bus.
3. Don't apologize if it's not your airline's fault such as bad weather.
4. Don't mention politics, management, finances.
5. Don't use pilot speak, acronyms or get too technical.
6. Emphasize safety if late.
9. Let them know what is going on. Don't have them look out the window in Columbus, GA when they think they just landed in Atlanta. I normally make it part of my brief at LGA that the taxi may take a while- if someone even thinks they need to use the bathroom they should do so before we push back.
 
Roger Roger said:
The only people that complain about aviation jargon in PAs are pilots. Everyone else either doesn't notice it doesn't care.

Now, when you're at the gate making a slightly disgruntled/defensive tone PA about how "I just fly the plane, I don't make the rules about when we can leave, and we need blahdee blah cieling, and I don't make the decisions about when and where we go I just fly the plane" like I heard a Skywest captain do one time that might make even the jaded pax start wondering wtf.

Also side note, iDevice autocorrects "skyweezy" to "Skywest".
Click to expand...

Ah, you're cute!

Ride around long enough, and you'll hear people complain at every airline, and you'll see people kick butt at every airline. The best thing YOU can do is not to be a whiner.
 
Al Bundy said:
Riding around on other airlines lately, and made an observation. I dunno, maybe the cold, dark months of winter have gotten to me, but...
- "Hello ladies and gentlemen. Welcome aboard flight 5735 service to XYZ..."

Nobody cares about what the flight number is. They are on the plane that is taking them to Cleveland. That's all they care.

- "..skies are broken at 1,500 feet."

Nobody has any idea what a "broken sky" is. Quit reading the ATIS when giving the weather info. If you must tell them the weather (see below) give them the 6pm news version. "Cool, breezy and mostly cloudy. Temps in the mid 50's."

- If you're going into a hub- why even give a full weather report? 95% of the people you are carrying are connections and will never see the outside. That, and a good chunk of them are on the wifi and can look that info up (if desired) while enroute.

- "Sit back-relax-and enjoy the flight" cliche.

Really? They're crammed in the seat now. Someone next to them took off their shoes. The seats/tray table/carpets are filthy. It's not 1950 anymore (unfortunately) and this is no longer a magical and privileged experience. It's hell. "We're going to get you there and get you out of this airplane as quickly as possible" would be better received.

- "Hello everyone- Captain Bob from the flight deck..."

Don't tell them your name. They don't care. They also don't care if you flew for the Navy/Air Force/Merchant Marine/Salvation Army/whatever. They don't care what the combined flight time of the pilots are. They don't care.

What they do care about is quiet, which you are interrupting. The PA's are loud, and on some airplanes you're pausing their movie or live TV link.

Please think before you press the PA button. Hopefully the thought is then..."Meh, maybe not."

Sorry...rant over. I gotta bundle up and go out to see if my truck will start, and shovel the driveway. Again.
Click to expand...

snickers.jpg
 
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