Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,857
Yes this is where BA is different to other airlines. I've been on countless services on other airlines where there is zero communication from the flight deck. On AA it may well be "Yeah we're number 5 for take off, thanks for flying American", they may or may not appreciate my business on that particular flight. On BA you usually get a message towards the end of boarding (which usually explains any delays, and it's very important to listen to that, in my opinion), then news on the approach, which may be combined with "10/20 minutes to landing" or separate. Occasionally - and I've even had this on AA - a mid flight message saying "Great views for Mount St. Helens today" which I greatly appreciate. My favourite, apart from Northern Lights messages, was on one flight were a BA captain told us about a pod of whales as we came into Vancouver.
Jota flight crews I suspect stick to their own brief on this, particularly given the flight time.
Given the many nervous flyers out there, personally I think flight deck messages are important and reassuring. Surely you don't want a ball by ball commentary about Sir Andrew Murray's game (which I had once, not good!) but that apart I like them.