So there's a little disagreement on the guided tour announcements but a consensus on redeyes: max announcements on the ground, shut up in flight.

I think most pilots know to shut up on redeyes so if you are getting a long-winded dissertation it's probably because the pilot has adjusted his work/rest schedule so well he/she has forgotten what time of day it is!

As for delay information, we understand that you want as much info as possible and hopefully crews are providing it. What you have to keep in mind is that, in spite of what I know to be true in my own mind, pilots are NOT all-seeing pillars of aviation knowledge! When a fleet of emergency vehicles goes zooming past your window on the way to the end of 22L you say to yourself, "I wonder what's up?" At the same time the pilots are looking at each other saying, "I wonder what's up?" We are at the mercy of other agencies (ATC and CO operations mainly) when it comes to getting information about events on the airport or in the air traffic system. We can make some educated guesses but we wait for verification from outside sources before passing on information. As you can imagine, the volume of radio traffic goes way up at places like EWR when the weather is bad or an aircraft has an emergency situation or just during the normal high traffic times. If every jet that just switched over to ground control or tower started asking questions about delays it would only further aggravate the situation (and if they get your callsign will result in another 5 airplanes getting put in front of you!) So we wait patiently for information from outside sources (all of whom have higher priority duties than relaying delay causes to us) and pass it on as soon as we can. Hopefully no one is outright lying to you but I know ATC and the weather have made a liar out of me on numerous occasions. Typically it is one of these two situations:
ATC: "expect to wait another 20 minutes your expected release time is XX."
ME on the PA: "we are expecting to sit here another 20 minutes before be released for takeoff."
(3 seconds elapsed time)
ATC: "you are released, cleared for takeoff."
ME: doh!

or
ME on the PA: "we have reached our cruising altitude and are expecting a smooth ride so I'm turning off the fasten seat belt sign..."
The Weather: moderate turbulence the instant the fasten seat belt sign hits the off position
ME: doh!
(many of us refer to the fasten seat belt sign as the "turbulence ON switch")

Here's my question for you, would you like updates every 10 minutes even if there is no new information? I know the captains I fly with have multiple schools of thought on this issue so on one flight you get constant updates and on another you get none.

ps. this is great info, I have already thought of several ways I can adjust my PAs and processes to make this flying thing a better deal for all of us.

I probably only speak for myself on this -- but I think it's only necessary to give updates when you have new info. I fly enough to know that you guys want to get off the ground just as much as I do and you'll do everything in your power to get the plane on the way.

My constant worry, flying in the evening, is that my crew is going to time out during excessive delays. I'd love to find out what the "wall" is and what the risk is for cancellation. I can then effectively manage a plan B scenario, if that exists.

Would it help if I brought a Box of Joe and some donuts to bribe the ATC at EWR so whatever plane I'm on will get priority?

I like to hear gate info if flying into a connecting airport or wx if flying into destination, so, yeah, I listen. Also flight time if on a route I don't fly often, but that's about 1x to 2x per year.

I like landmarks that are genuine landmarks and which can be seen from the plane (Rainier, Grand Canyon, etc). I have no need to know that we're flying over Dallas (which I've heard often on OKC-IAH flights).

Two pet peeves of mine with pilot spiels:

1) Often the spiel will start 5 minutes into the IFE. Seems like this could be timed better. Perhaps this is an FA/pilot coordination issue (I doubt y'all know what's happening on IFE), or perhaps it's just the way of the world.

2) Some pilots will key the mic on and off during their spiel. If this happens to be during IFE, it can get you through several lines of dialogue after which you have no idea what happened (and I'm the type guy who instinctively reaches for my Tivo remote at the movie theater).

It seems to me that this would make it easier... after the preview, you could announce "once we're in the air, we'll be through the cabin with headphones available for $1." Then you can walk the cabin once in the air without having to announce it?


Well, I'd say new info or every 30 minutes to say there's no new info. But this has been my experience with CO generally.

I agree with this.

My last post was getting a little long winded so I wanted put a separate thought here (I am not jacking up my post count I swear!).

I have seen several posts in this thread stating what a great thing a cockpit visit can be. Since 9-11 many passenger think they can no longer visit the cockpit while on the ground but that is not true. You can't just rush into the cockpit when you board or you'll find out the hard way if the are Air Marshalls on board! Ask the FA closest to the CP if you can go up for a visit (having kids with you helps but is not required, borrow some from another PAX if you wanna make sure ) and they will make sure we are not too busy. Showing off our office and talking with aviation enthusiasts is a great thing for us as well. I have not run into a captain yet that will refuse a cockpit visit unless there is a serious time constraint (and sometimes not even then-picture an FA standing in the cockpit entrance tapping on her watch and an irate GA holding the entry door half open). Cameras are welcome and most capts will let you try out one of the front seats (certain poses might not be allowed, see previous closed thread). So come on down and bring the family next time you fly!

On a semi-related subject, do any of you carry a log book of your flights? Passenger log books used to be pretty common but I haven't seen one in two years. About 2 years ago the FA brought up an older gentlemen who had a log book and was wondering if the captain would sign it. The captain did and then handed me the log while he chatted with our visitor. I flipped through his log and was blown away! The book itself was obviously very old (as was our visitor) but when I flipped to the first page I saw entry number one was from 1933! A quick trip through the book showed this guy had been on just about every major or national airline that had ever existed. Quite a few of the earliest flights were barnstormer rides on WWI era biplanes. This guy had never been a pilot only a passenger. As he was leaving I told him how impressed I was with his experience and his ability to keep a log for that long, to which he replied, "that's my second one!" The first was lost in a plane crash! A two-seater, him and the pilot walked away fine then the wreckage caught fire. Just wondering if anyone out there is still doing this (keeping a log, not crashing and burning airplanes).

Middle seat ALWAYS is entitled to the armrests.

hah!
You might want to take a peak into "The Penalty Box."

I think this has migrated to the digital age. A lot of FT'ers keep tabs of their flights via "FlightMemory" (reference link in my sig. block). Some keep fastidious records, including registration of the plane, seat numbers, etc. Others, like me, prefer to repress the memories and just track the flight numbers and routes.

I've kept an Excel file for several years (since I started lurking on FT... learned about Flight Memory, and then decided it would be easier just to do an XLS).

The actual logbook idea sounds cool. Would be neat to start one for a kid with their first flight, and then give it to them to on their first unaccompanied trip.

I was in the cockpit one time and the pilot asked me if I had ever been stuck in a Turkish prison? I thought that was really cool!

Fletch

I vote for the "guided tour" approach, as I enjoy being alerted to interesting scenery along the route (even if I have seen the east range of the Rockies, the Grand Canyon, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Raineer 200 times from the air.

Especially when taking off from PDX, there are so many peaks to look at, from both sides of the plane!

This is nothing to d'oh about. I've had this happen to me and I was thankful that we weren't going to have to wait 20 minutes. Now, don't get any idea to use this to increase customer satisfaction.

I'd agree with the every 30 minutes status quo message.

While on the ground, GA are asked to make annoucements every 20 minutes with regards to any delays. For some reason no one can understand our annoucements either.

A log book? Er, no.

Flights are like former lovers - you remember the few really bad ones, and the few really good ones.

Everything in between just blurs into the maelstrom.

I have a log book, but I am too embarrassed to ask the crew to sign it.

Yes.

Depends on the crew. Last weekend, DL outbound to PHX. "We're experiencing some turbulence [actually, no more than light to moderate chop] at initial cruise [360] so we'll find smoother air at 240." [Really. 3.5 hrs at 240 all the way to PHX, accompanied by the sound of the 763 guzzling gas. Yes, it was smooth all the way. I doubt that CAL flight crew would have changed assigned FL for the insignificant chop. You guys would pound us at 360 in the 752... but then CO didn't lose $1.4bn etc.]

One of you guys: "We will be landing at Houston's George Bush Intergalactic airport in about fifteen minutes...". Did he really say that? Yes..

Yes.

Only late on redeye flights. And when we encounter turb, let us know you've registered it and what you propose to do about it, if anything.

And if we're going to arrive early into SFO from NRT, tell us that Immigration and Customs don't report for work until 6am and we're going to be stuck at the gate for the entire hour we've gained thanks to the 200kt tailwinds. Deflate the expectation and frustration that builds when we can't get out.

If we're in the EWR holding pen in the 738, let us know what you know about expected, and realistic, departure times.

Yes.

Sparing but informative PAs by the commander always adds value to the flight package.

In some cases I've observed, like last month, they're more helpful than crews know. My companion was very perturbed about flying and she would freeze, waiting for the commander's PA regarding flight time and conditions. As she said, "I can't help it, I need to hear from the guys up front. I feel better when they've told me what's happening." She didn't tell the crew this, of course but she certainly relaxed after each PA.

And in one or two exceptional cases, the communication from the flight deck is absolutely critical, e.g.[following a severe turb encounter on the 744 descending into NRT, with multiple injuries in cabin] "No more turbulence has been reported. We've declared an emergency and are being expedited to NRT. We will be landing in seven minutes. Please remain in your seats and notify the flight crew if you believe you are injured. Do not attempt to retrieve your cabin luggage or leave your seats, it will impede the ability of our crews to reach those who may be injured.

On arrival, there will be a medevac procedure so if you do not believe you are hurt, please remain seated and allow the medical team to take care of those in need."

Etc.