Too many PA announcements?

Noxegon

Is it just me or do the fine folks at Aer Lingus go a bit overboard with their PA system announcements in flight?

Do passengers really need a long spiel about the exciting products that are exclusive to Aer Lingus? Does everyone really need to be told that because we're travelling in the European Union it isn't possible to sell cigarettes and alcohol? More to the point, are these announcements really that important on the 6:00am flight to Amsterdam or the late night flights when most on board are trying to sleep?

Sky Shopping! Sky Shopping! Sky Shopping!

Bah humbug.

Jack1985

Noxegon wrote: »

Is it just me or do the fine folks at Aer Lingus go a bit overboard with their PA system announcements in flight?

Do passengers really need a long spiel about the exciting products that are exclusive to Aer Lingus? Does everyone really need to be told that because we're travelling in the European Union it isn't possible to sell cigarettes and alcohol? More to the point, are these announcements really that important on the 6:00am flight to Amsterdam or the late night flights when most on board are trying to sleep?

Sky Shopping! Sky Shopping! Sky Shopping!

Bah humbug.

Lol, there are some crew who go a bit overboard. Would agree its inappropriate on the 602, saying that we have been told not to make unnecessary announcements on early/late flights. And I don't. Pass your feedback onto Aer Lingus via Twitter/Facebook.

poteen

Noxegon wrote: »

Is it just me or do the fine folks at Aer Lingus go a bit overboard with their PA system announcements in flight?

Do passengers really need a long spiel about the exciting products that are exclusive to Aer Lingus? Does everyone really need to be told that because we're travelling in the European Union it isn't possible to sell cigarettes and alcohol? More to the point, are these announcements really that important on the 6:00am flight to Amsterdam or the late night flights when most on board are trying to sleep?

Sky Shopping! Sky Shopping! Sky Shopping!

Bah humbug.

I fully agree with you but I think alot of airlines are the same. The flight feels like one big long advert

Preset No.3

Captive audience, no choice but to listen to it. In all fairness, Aer Lingus are no where as bad as Ryanair used to be at its height for the hard sell.

owenc

Yea you should see Ryanair..

olive20

Shudnt say much about AL but I do laugh sometimes (in a nice way) at the accents. With "ish" at end of every word. Or the Nordy guys with "would yee loike a wee tay".

Have the other day been on a Ryanair to Brussels and not a word said on PA apart from the safety stuff. Was very relaxing.
Good onya RY.

Jack which is 602? Is it the time? cause the CCrew been told to keep it down early/late.

Crumbs868

Pilot announcements should also be more sensitive when it's early / late. Was on a flight from Italy recently and at 10.30pm pilot made an announcement around London on the weather where we were etc. No reason to wake half the plan who were asleep

owenc

But then again there are some pilots who don't make any announcements. I like to know where we are going and it does get irritating when the pilot doesn't tell us our routing or update us on the weather during a long flight.

To me that is lazy.

Preset No.3

The first rule of airmanship: Fly the aircraft. Damn those lazy pilots!!!!!

iusedtoknow

In the US i was flying NY->SFO @ 7am and the pilot welcomed us on board, said that he wouldn't interrupt our sleep through the flight and just let us know the general routing and the expected weather at SFO at arrival. That was it - it was great

I just yesterday did an internal EU flight with Iberia from Zurich to Madrid and it was relentless throughout the two and a bit hour flight

highlydebased

I don't mind too many announcements from up front (flight deck) as it's nice to hear about the progress. Was on a Monarch flight last week and there were a few PA's about the views outside and what we were overhead.

Really dislike announcements about scratchcards, donations, boutique shopping....please hold your child's hand on disembarking :rolleyes:

I firmly believe that those who decide to stand up after landing, attempt to light a cigarette etc on the ramp are those who pay no attention at all to any announcement and are in their own world anyway!

owenc

Yea those scratch card things are really annoying. Same with the announcements about perfume. It would be nice if Ryanair didn't hand out those stupid flipping booklets because no one uses them.

Comhrá

When I was a young green flyer - and aerophile - I always felt cheated and let down when a flight was completed without being told what altitude we were flying at.

A bonus if there was a route description with speed and anything else relevant like weather en route, possible turbulence etc.

In the early Aer Lingus days, a detailed handwritten voyage report was passed through the aircraft with the aircraft type, registration, altitude, eta & names of captain & 1st officer/s. This was back in the Viscount days. It was a really nice touch of class when flying was very glamorous and exclusive.

Locker10a

owenc wrote: »

Yea those scratch card things are really annoying. Same with the announcements about perfume. It would be nice if Ryanair didn't hand out those stupid flipping booklets because no one uses them.

Oh people do I can tell you

Locker10a

highlydebased wrote: »

Really dislike announcements about scratchcards, donations, boutique shopping....please hold your child's hand on disembarking :rolleyes:

!

Yeah I agree some are to cover stupid people making claims like the one about holding your Childs hand! Charity is charity that's ok but the constant sales are annoying but the only reason these exist are because the airlines make so much money their boutique and onboard sales !! I compleatly agree that constant and long announcements are annoying I think where possible they should be combined into one that is Short and concise

owenc

Locker10a wrote: »

Yeah I agree some are to cover stupid people making claims like the one about holding your Childs hand! Charity is charity that's ok but the constant sales are annoying but the only reason these exist are because the airlines make so much money their boutique and onboard sales !! I compleatly agree that constant and long announcements are annoying I think where possible they should be combined into one that is Short and concise

Well on the flights I go on no one buys the perfume etc. They do buy some food but no one uses those annoying magazines especially since they don't even have a pocket to store stuff in.

It's time they install those and get rid of the yucky yucky yellow. Keep the no recline though.

Locker10a

owenc wrote: »

Well on the flights I go on no one buys the perfume etc. They do buy some food but no one uses those annoying magazines especially since they don't even have a pocket to store stuff in.

It's time they install those and get rid of the yucky yucky yellow. Keep the no recline though.

Trust me lots of people buy from the boutique !! If you are on mainly domestic or short business routes you may not see this though!

owenc

Maybe Dublin is different but not on the flights I have went on!

It's too expensive. I must say I prefer Ryanair to Easyjet, better baggage allowance, bigger planes and also much more leg room.

L1011

I have been on flights where EI must have sold a few grand off the trolley. Right flight at the right time seems to work. First two weeks in February and guys flying with their SO often end up getting suckered in to buying jewellery or perfume, etc.

I was on a DUB-AMS flight where by the time they got to mid-plane both trolleys were out of some specific "urban decay" product whatever the hell that is due to demand. That said, this flight also ran out of vodka and Heineken...

Cookiemunster

owenc wrote: »

Maybe Dublin is different but not on the flights I have went on!

So do you stand at the rear of the plane and watch what people are buying? Just because you don't see the people around you buying doesn't mean nobody else on board is buying. If this was the case then the airlines simply wouldn't bother selling these items.

owenc

I watch the trolley and they just walk up and down really quickly.

Tenger

owenc wrote: »

Maybe Dublin is different but not on the flights I have went on!
.....

I think Locker10a has more experience of Ryanair onboard sales than yourself owenc.

Preset No.3

And here we go AGAIN!!!!

owenc

tippman1 wrote: »

When I was a young green flyer - and aerophile - I always felt cheated and let down when a flight was completed without being told what altitude we were flying at.

A bonus if there was a route description with speed and anything else relevant like weather en route, possible turbulence etc.

In the early Aer Lingus days, a detailed handwritten voyage report was passed through the aircraft with the aircraft type, registration, altitude, eta & names of captain & 1st officer/s. This was back in the Viscount days. It was a really nice touch of class when flying was very glamorous and exclusive.

On my last long haul flight the captain made an announcement at the start and never said anything during the flight or even at the descent. I would've appreciated it if he could have told us about weather and where we had reached.

IrishAir98

owenc wrote: »

On my last long haul flight the captain made an announcement at the start and never said anything during the flight or even at the descent. I would've appreciated it if he could have told us about weather and where we had reached.

That's United 757's for you!

Preset No.3

Have you learned nothing from looking at this forum or do you like winding up people here?

Do you not think that the pilots first job is to fly the aircraft? Just that small tiny issue? Keep the shiny metal tube in the air!! Maybe after that they have to plan their weigh points across the route. Then catch up on paper work. Then do several other jobs all to do with getting the aircraft safely to the destination.

If you had the ability, you could easily work out where you were by opening a window blind, and LOOK! Take an average speed, flight time and work out where you should be on a flight. It's not rocket science. It's simple dead reckoning. It doesn't take the pilot coming on making announcements that few people care about.

Jack1985

billie1b

Preset No.3 wrote: »

Have you learned nothing from looking at this forum or do you like winding up people here?

Do you not think that the pilots first job is to fly the aircraft? Just that small tiny issue? Keep the shiny metal tube in the air!! Maybe after that they have to plan their weigh points across the route. Then catch up on paper work. Then do several other jobs all to do with getting the aircraft safely to the destination.

If you had the ability, you could easily work out where you were by opening a window blind, and LOOK! Take an average speed, flight time and work out where you should be on a flight. It's not rocket science. It's simple dead reckoning. It doesn't take the pilot coming on making announcements that few people care about.

Anddddd Breathe...............

Growler!!!

Owen, that was a quick delete.

I won't type what you wrote as it seemed like a cry for help.

Seriously, if that's the way you feel and it upsets you then log off the forum. Don't put yourself in a position to be bullied.

I'm usually a sarcastic c@nt but in this case please if it affecting you this much then take a step back and give the forum a miss for a bit.

Preset No.3

Whenever anyone mentions something like bullying, logic would dictate that you take a step back and re-examine the posts that have been made. Although I would have full faith in Tenger and Lord Lucan in their skills as mods that if they saw bullying they would be swift to deal with it.

What I would say is that advice, and a professional opinion have been offered on several occasions only for the fundamentals to be ignored or even rejected to the point of frustration. Now before we ask everyone to slap their CV's on the table, we all love debate, this forum would be very boring if we all agreed with each other but there has to be a point where a post will be made by someone who is clearly a professional and it is respected regardless of whether you think you are right or wrong.

homerjay2005

Noxegon wrote: »

Is it just me or do the fine folks at Aer Lingus go a bit overboard with their PA system announcements in flight?

Do passengers really need a long spiel about the exciting products that are exclusive to Aer Lingus? Does everyone really need to be told that because we're travelling in the European Union it isn't possible to sell cigarettes and alcohol? More to the point, are these announcements really that important on the 6:00am flight to Amsterdam or the late night flights when most on board are trying to sleep?

Sky Shopping! Sky Shopping! Sky Shopping!

Bah humbug.

i dont really travel with Aer Lingus anymore due to their Union threats, but what does annoy me is their use of the Irish language on flights.

i dont see any need for it and this comes from somebody who grew up with fluent Irish.

munchkin_utd

never found aerlingus to be bad.
That said, if you are getting a flight from Dublin to the likes of Manchester which has barely taken off before its already decending, then 2 or 3 announcements will seem a lot in the limited time.
But for the 2 to 3 hours to the likes of continental europe (or more for further destinations) and its a few seconds out of what is a far longer journey, if you are even awake to hear it in the first place.

Tenger

homerjay2005 wrote: »

......but what does annoy me is their use of the Irish language on flights.

i dont see any need for it and this comes from somebody who grew up with fluent Irish.

Now that is proper humbug!

roundymac

I agree, total waste of time. However the hassle that would follow if they were to drop it dos'nt make it worth their time.

munchkin_utd

homerjay2005 wrote: »

i dont really travel with Aer Lingus anymore due to their Union threats, but what does annoy me is their use of the Irish language on flights.

i dont see any need for it and this comes from somebody who grew up with fluent Irish.

I like the wee sentence of irish there when landing back on the old sod.

Especially when the plane is full of germans who think that "irish" is just english spoken quickly in an irish accent.
(not that announcements are that audiable anyhow, regardless of the language)

Tenger

Growler!!! wrote: »

Owen, that was a quick delete.
.......
Seriously, if that's the way you feel and it upsets you then log off the forum. Don't put yourself in a position to be bullied.
........

To follow on from the above statement: To owenc, this forum is full of people interested and knowledgeable about aviation and the airline industry.

You claim that you are being bullied but what you seem to perceive as 'bullying' is in fact correction of incorrect statements by people who know what they are talking about. Since you appeared on this forum you have consistently posted your personal observations and/or opinions as irrefutable fact. You then claim to be a victim when someone counters those statements.
This is the whole basis of a discussions forum. You will get posters arguing with you and others. Some people will have a pro/anti agenda and will argue stubbornly in every thread, others will have the insider knowledge to shut down a debate with actual facts that can't be countered.

To refer to the statement on the previous page, you claimed that few if any passengers purchase from the shopping cart and that is was a waste of time.
A better statement/post would have been along the lines of "on my flight the shopping cart doesn't seem busy at all, is it really a good revenue stream for Ryanair and other airlines"

As I said to you before, ask more questions rather than making statements. Read up on subjects before interjecting with un-informed opinions

keith16

I've started flying with Swiss / Helvetic recently. I've been on their Fokker 100 which is a nice jet I have to say.

They don't seem to have as many announcements as EI / FR. The crew are very pleasant and they just wheel through once with the food / drinks (complementary) and then once with the duty free and don't make a big deal of it shouting over the PA.

Pilots seemed to have much more enthusiasm for the announcement on progress etc.

Tenger

keith16 wrote: »

I've started flying with Swiss / Helvetic recently. I've been on their Fokker 100 which is a nice jet I have to say.

They don't seem to have as many announcements as EI / FR. The crew are very pleasant and they just wheel through once with the food / drinks (complementary) and then once with the duty free and don't make a big deal of it shouting over the PA.

Pilots seemed to have much more enthusiasm for the announcement on progress etc.

There's the difference. FR/EI use onboard sales as revenue stream. Thus the crews are instructed to "use the PA to sell", sell hot drinks, delicious sandwiches, designer watches, tube tickets, whatever will generate more revenue per pax for the airline to subsidise the lower online sale ticket prices.

Noxegon

munchkin_utd wrote: »

But for the 2 to 3 hours to the likes of continental europe (or more for further destinations) and its a few seconds out of what is a far longer journey, if you are even awake to hear it in the first place.

I'm impressed if you can sleep through the PA announcements on EI... I've lost count of the number of times when I've been blasted awake by them...

Locker10a

Noxegon wrote: »

I'm impressed if you can sleep through the PA announcements on EI... I've lost count of the number of times when I've been blasted awake by them...

Well yeah a PA should get your attention after all !! But yeah I think we have agreed there are to many pas that aren't necesssy ! But the reason has been explained - revenue ! People want cheap tickets but the airlines still need to make money!

Locker10a

homerjay2005 wrote: »

but what does annoy me is their use of the Irish language on flights.

i dont see any need for it and this comes from somebody who grew up with fluent Irish.

What? That's one of my favourite things about travelling with EI ! I love being welcomed on board in Irish while abroad and then being welcomed home and when the crew say " slan abhaile" at the door! I think it's lovely and a really unique thing and maybe I'm a big nerd but I think it's cool that a little bit of the Irish language is being spoken around Europe and the across the Atlantic !

Red Alert

EI seem to only use the recorded announcements for non-English languages, unlike Ryanair. I've also noticed that they seem to be set much louder than the live PA.