shogan1977

Let me start by saying I fully support the pilots unions in taking a strong stance to ensure they are well compensated and properly trained for the immensely important job they do. I for one want the men and women flying the aircraft to be competent, trained, well paid, rested and happy...

My beef however is with pilots thinking that by mistreating their passengers they are scoring a victory against Smisek Yesterday flying from Newark to Frankfurt on CO50 not a SINGLE word was delivered from the flight deck, not a word. Call me old fashioned, but I find that plain rude, not to mention unprofessional. We hit some moderate turbulence mid-Atlantic. My wife is a nervous flyer and I know she for one would have appreciated hearing something over the PA.

This contrasts with the extremely warm, informative, welcoming communications on my connecting flights with Lufthansa. It makes me wonder why am I flying with UA/CO in the first place when the pilot in charge seems to think punishing his passengers (that he is responsible for) is a win! All it results in is loss - loss of confidence, loss of support and ultimately loss of customers. Maybe that's the aim, but it certainly will not make the lives of employees any easier.

My parents were primary school teachers (in Ireland) and active members of the teachers union. The teachers were successful in large part because they were popular and had the support of parents. UA/CO pilots could perhaps keep that in mind @:-)

Daniel-SYD

Sometimes the silence is deafening?

Sorry, but it seems a bit of a stretch to equate no communication with unhappiness or even passive-agressive punishment of a CEO. They just didn't want to talk, didn't feel the need to, or simply forgot.

Having said that, on my international flights, I don't recall not hearing the flight deck on the PA after takeoff for the usual welcome chat. After that most flyers probably want quiet.

Having the flight deck say over the PA anything more than "please take your seats" during moderate turbulence would probably make many fliers more nervous than they need to be.

shogan1977

Point taken re your last comment - but I say again, they didn't utter a single word. Not even, "cabin crew take your seats for take-off/landing"!?

Every UA/CO flight I have been on there is at least a hello.

mre5765

East bound tatls are usually timed to arrive in the morning, so most pax want to sleep. By the time the cockpit realized it had not made any welcoming announcements, it might have been well in to pax sleep time.

Another possibility was that there was something in the air that occupied the cock pit, such as a storm or traffic. If they were getting lots of communication from traffic control, a weather service, or HQ, then they were doing their primary job.

Mackieman

As was said by a CO pilot who used to post around here, pilots have three priorities:

1. Aviate.
2. Navigate.
3. Communicate.

Nobody has any idea of what's going on in the front office on any given flight; I'd much rather allow the pilots to focus on items one (especially) and two (thankfully) than to hear the temperature and wind direction/speed.

Just saying, there's more to it than that.

drummingcraig

+1

There are just way to many possibilities here to conclude that this was a clear case of protest.

mahasamatman

I hope this silence extends to all flights. I really don't like chatty pilots and pursers.

rapidex

Did anybody think to ask if the PA system was servicable?Most work on a different amp to the cabin crew system,and is not required in the Boeing mel as long as the call system is working.Just means normal pleasantries are not possible.

Hachiko

So you equate no announcements with some sort of pilot strike against management?

Give me a break.

shogan1977

1. It seems a bit coincidental. Same day as picketing on wall street.

2. What's with the overly aggressive response? How is any different from pilots who don't turn on ch.9 as form of protest?

Silver Fox

As golfers say about caddies "turn up, and shut up".

l etoile

I have changed the title of this thread to more accurately reflect the first post.

l'etoile
UA moderator

drummingcraig

Well first off, if channel 9 is turned off that is plainly a choice made by the pilots - its a switch - on/off. Even then, that cannot be considered a 100% case of protest as some pilots choose to leave it off for other reasons (which have been covered ad nauseum here).

I agree that it is certainly odd that there was no communications from the cockpit. I just think it is a bit of a leap (and a huge assumption) that it was done intentionally to "punish the passengers". It may very well have been just that, but it also could've been a myriad of others.

shogan1977

M. Moderator / l'etoile, what is your view? Do you think it is perfectly normal? Seeing as we spent an hour at the gate and 45mins taxiing to runway and then had a perfectly normal/uneventful flight until moderate turbulence 5 hours into flight, I see no reason why a pilot would not say something at start of flight, Eastbound or not.

anc-ord772

I'm with the OP in the fact that I like a little welcome or flight information from the pilot. I've had an increase in silent flight crews over the past two months.