FA Safety brief
- Thread starter MikeD
- Start date
There's no currency as far as the safety briefing. Those PAs are written in their PA books (if they have them) or in their manuals to read if they have 'forgotten' them (if you don't say them every day you may forget, but they're written in the manual). Recurrent training covers a wide variety of things; medical, evacuations, security, etc. but making PAs isn't hard and isn't a part of recurrent or any sort of currency training. On every flight it's required to make sure the equipment is onboard so the PA can be done manually if necessary (make sure there's a seatbelt extender available and there's a demo mask). Checking the presence of these items is a part of checking the airplane's required equipment for every flight, regardless of presences of video equipment as the video may fail and the safety demo must be done, with or without the video.
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
"If you don't know how to close and open your seatbelt, you should probably not be in public unsupervised"
At AA the #1 (in the front) does the PA while the #2 & #4 (there is no #3 on the -80) are in the aisle.
poser765
Well-Known Member
uhh, what happened to #3?
Jordan93
Well-Known Member
My favorite is on the 200 when our automated PA system is deferred.
FA: "I will now demonstrate the use of the seat belt"
*Awkwardly clicks seat belt in silence while people stare*
"I will demonstrate the use of the oxygen mask"
*Awkwardly places mask just above face and tightens the straps*
FA: "I will now demonstrate the use of the seat belt"
*Awkwardly clicks seat belt in silence while people stare*
"I will demonstrate the use of the oxygen mask"
*Awkwardly places mask just above face and tightens the straps*
For usual staffing levels, there is no #3 on the -80. The #3 is the "extra" staffing on the -80, which used to be staffed when there was a full load & meals in coach.
Cptnchia
Dissatisfied Customer
So many different ways to do the same thing. Delta uses letters instead of numbers, position A, B, C, etc. What AA calls #3, Delta calls X, or the load factor position. Same thing though, extra staffing for full flights, with caveats. Usually it's for a flight with full meal service, so, no very common!
It'd be interesting to hear how United does the same thing.
poser765
Well-Known Member
Interesting. Thanks.
Also at AA each number does have some commonality between aircraft types. Example: the #1 on any plane is the F/C aisle or "purser" on widebodies, and is always the one who makes PAs, is (or was, with how everything is electronic these days) responsible for liquor deposits, etc. The #2 is always main cabin galley, #4 is always main cabin aisle. I have no idea where these numbers came from or why they're assigned to the positions they are, that's just how it is.
Zapphod Beblebrox
Inventor of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster
It is easy to tell who is legacy AA and former US. At US the lead flight attendant or # 1 was called the "A" and "B", was in the back and "C" was also up front. Two up front and one in the back was the normal configuration for most of the narrow body fleet. All US aircraft had the main galleys forward.
I still stumble and ask "Are you flying A?" If I get a blank stare, it's a legacy AA flight attendant. "OOOps, I apologize, are you #1?"
I still stumble and ask "Are you flying A?" If I get a blank stare, it's a legacy AA flight attendant. "OOOps, I apologize, are you #1?"
Cptnchia
Dissatisfied Customer
Just ask them, "Who's the HBIC?"
bike21
9-5 Ruins Lives
There was one time where a passenger didn't know how and it was actually kinda cool. Story below, don't think I've shared it here...
The Passenger from Sudan
As an airline pilot I’ve had the opportunity to carry countless passengers to their work, vacations, families & homes. The makeup and sheer diversity of those passengers has always helped remind me of the larger world we all share. One morning several years ago one passenger in particular got my attention and her story suddenly has a bigger meaning that I felt I needed to share.
The morning started out fairly routine, I stopped by my usual place in Chicago’s O’hare airport for a coffee then headed toward the gate to get ready to fly to Omaha, Nebraska to start a day of flying. Upon arriving at the gate I noticed a passenger that I would not have necessarily expected on a flight to Omaha. Sitting in a wheelchair was a woman that seemed anxious, exhausted, and frightened. She wore a very colorful but ragged dress & head scarf, had but a single shoe and quite literally looked as if she had been pulled straight from a remote village somewhere in Africa. In fact she actually had been as I would shortly learn.
She appeared to have no one else traveling with her and attending to her were two young volunteers from the O’hare Traveler’s Assistance program. One of which waved me over and asked me to step aside as I was the Captain on the flight and he wanted to ensure our crew was aware of her story. Or as much as they knew anyway.
Turns out this poor woman had just spent the night huddled in a staircase at O’hare’s airport. Alone & frightened an airport worker found her around 6am sobbing to the cold concrete. She didn’t speak a word of English and as best as the volunteers could tell, she had somehow missed her flight to Omaha the previous night and didn’t know what else to do. All she had with her was a plastic bag that contained her documents, contact info for her family and a letter in broken english stating where she was going along. Her boarding passes indicated she had connected through Frankfurt, Germany with a continuing ticket to Omaha.
So all we knew is that this anxious and scared woman was trying to get to her family in Omaha and escaping the civil war that was happening in Sudan at the time. She was a refugee.
Suddenly, I knew that I had to see her through all the way to her family in Omaha. The volunteers made certain her concerned family was notified of her being safe and was now on her way to Omaha. I thanked the volunteers for sticking to her side all morning and assured them we’d see her through to her family.
I head down the jet bridge to the aircraft and briefed my crew who were already preparing for the flight. My crew was blown away by the story and was instantly ready to assist. We boarded our new friend ahead of the other passengers and helped her get settled and comfortable. Finally a faint smile broke out on her face as she realized our caring crew was going to go her to her family. This was the final leg in what I can only imagine had been a long and arduous journey.
Once we landed in Omaha we didn’t have a lot of time on the ground before our return flight to Chicago as per standard operations but I was going to ensure she got to her family before we left. I left my crew to prep the plane for the return flight and walked along side our new friend who was beginning to realize her journey was complete. We shared a smile and then as we rounded the last corner toward the terminal exit her face finally lit up. Her family was there waiting, happy, excited, relieved. I stopped, watched for a moment as they embraced, wiped a growing tear from my eye and then headed back to my plane to continue our day.
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
Exception granted.
