Do you find pilots’ announcements infuriating?
May 18, 2019, 12:36 pm
#1
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Join Date: Apr 2007
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Do you find pilots’ announcements infuriating?
Been travelling quite a bit recently on MH, and I find genetally the captain’s announcements tend to be rather draggy... poorly pronounced with strong Malay accent... sometimes it’s as if they were only thinking of what to speak while they’d be speaking... I’ve even come across MH pilots who appeared distracted while speaking and couldn’t even string proper sentences together. I find such poorly prepared cockpit announcements to be very annoying as they interrupt with my IFE when they could be a lot snappier and more succinct. Anyone feel the same?
May 19, 2019, 1:30 am
#2
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Asia Pacific
Programs: Accor Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, SQ Gold, Qatar Platinum
Posts: 238
I have experienced exactly this, but with many airlines, not just MH. Halting English with a heavy accent, end the announcement abruptly as it they have the pressure to do the task, and as if feel relieved it finally ended. Cabin crews are better with announcements in my opinion. Though I don't feel this is infuriating or anything, rather I respect the captain does it at all, and if I found a stuttering captain, I am kind of rooting for them to get it through the end 
May 19, 2019, 4:48 am
#4
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: UK
Programs: Etihad Gold, Qatar Gold, flying Blue, Falcon, Lufthansa, Eva
Posts: 1,428
hardly blame them for having Malaysian accents and I have not noticed excessive announcements. Remember these guys(and girls) are highly trained pilots not public speakers
yes some could be better BUT much prefer to any automated messages from the cockpit
yes some could be better BUT much prefer to any automated messages from the cockpit
May 19, 2019, 7:07 am
#5
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Cockpit announcements, if done well and with a dash of personality and passion, maybe humour, are a pleasure to listen to. Like the ones uttered by pilots on BA and QF. And the other day I came across a highly eloquent pilot announcement on SQ.
But the draggy ones by MH pilots are typically badly executed and especially grating.
May 20, 2019, 2:54 am
#6
Join Date: Sep 2014
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The vast majority of QF BA pilots are native English speakers and I bet most do not even attempt an announcement in the language of their destination if it is not English
May 20, 2019, 3:21 am
#7
Join Date: Nov 2017
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I have flown airlines where the country do not speak English as native language (FM, MU, BR, VN, VZ, PG, TG, UB, 8M, to name a few) and their captain announcements were not any better than MH, yet I understand the information they announce, altitude, temperature, time, etc, just fine and that is all that matters? For humour and entertainment matters I would rely on IFE...
May 20, 2019, 3:23 am
#8
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As my grandma who lived through both world wars used to teach me, if you’re tasked to do a job for which you’re already disadvantaged to begin with - work on it harder. Not by giving it insufficient preparation or attempting to work through what you should be speaking while you’re speaking it, as these MH pilots tend to do.
May 20, 2019, 3:26 am
#10
Join Date: Sep 2014
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As my grandma who lived through both world wars used to teach me, if you’re tasked to do a job for which you’re already disadvantaged to begin with - work on it harder. Not by giving it insufficient preparation or attempting to work through what you should be speaking while you’re speaking it, as these MH pilots tend to do.
May 20, 2019, 3:34 am
#11
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Asia Pacific
Programs: Accor Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, SQ Gold, Qatar Platinum
Posts: 238
As my grandma who lived through both world wars used to teach me, if you’re tasked to do a job for which you’re already disadvantaged to begin with - work on it harder. Not by giving it insufficient preparation or attempting to work through what you should be speaking while you’re speaking it, as these MH pilots tend to do.
May 20, 2019, 8:32 am
#12
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I believe that is part of their job by MH. With any job, if you're required to do it, then do it well. Naturally the pilot's ability to navigate the flight route and keep passengers safe throughout the flight trump the making of onboard announcements, and one would never reasonably expect them other than in times of smooth flying. But that does not justify a half baked or distracted announcement.
May 21, 2019, 10:39 am
#13
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 946
Could be worse. Their delivery reminds me of pilots in the US.
The thing that bothers me about MH announcements is that they rarely bother to acknowledge delays. On one flight, a significantly delayed arrival (on-time departure) cost me several hundred euros and a delayed baggage situation but I didn't even realize that my flight hadn't arrived on time until I looked up the details by myself!
The thing that bothers me about MH announcements is that they rarely bother to acknowledge delays. On one flight, a significantly delayed arrival (on-time departure) cost me several hundred euros and a delayed baggage situation but I didn't even realize that my flight hadn't arrived on time until I looked up the details by myself!
May 23, 2019, 5:05 am
#14
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: CGK
Posts: 2,375
I mean do you know how hard it is for some people to grasp an accent different from their own? It's not that easy, and Malaysians speaking Malaysian english is completely fine and normal for them to do! If you really dislike it, then just don't fly MH.
If you fly within routes in Indonesia, you'll see that the english is even worse, and in some cases incomprehensible (even on Garuda). I've had one flight where the captain had such a thick accent, he was practically speaking Indonesian.
If you fly within routes in Indonesia, you'll see that the english is even worse, and in some cases incomprehensible (even on Garuda). I've had one flight where the captain had such a thick accent, he was practically speaking Indonesian.
May 24, 2019, 3:48 am
#15
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: UK
Programs: Etihad Gold, Qatar Gold, flying Blue, Falcon, Lufthansa, Eva
Posts: 1,428
Could be worse. Their delivery reminds me of pilots in the US.
The thing that bothers me about MH announcements is that they rarely bother to acknowledge delays. On one flight, a significantly delayed arrival (on-time departure) cost me several hundred euros and a delayed baggage situation but I didn't even realize that my flight hadn't arrived on time until I looked up the details by myself!
The thing that bothers me about MH announcements is that they rarely bother to acknowledge delays. On one flight, a significantly delayed arrival (on-time departure) cost me several hundred euros and a delayed baggage situation but I didn't even realize that my flight hadn't arrived on time until I looked up the details by myself!