130 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION
W
ith the volcanic ash spewing
into the atmosphere over
Bali, travel plans have been
thrown into chaos. Flight
delays and cancellations have left
passengers stranded on either side of
the Timor Sea. However, despite the
inconvenience, there seems to be a
better understating of the situation
by passengers now than there was
some years ago when a good deal of
frustration would be vented at the
airlines. There is an appreciation that
safety must truly come first, and this
enhanced awareness is fundamentally
due to better communication.
Despite every management course
reminding us that communication
is pivotal and four million apps
allowing us to transfer information in
the blink of an eye, the message still
gets lost in the modern world. From
husband to wife and management to
employee, even the simplest words
can be garbled and ambiguous in
their meaning in spite of all of the
supporting tools we have today.
To their credit, airlines seem to be
making an ever-increasing effort
to share information with their
customers.
There will always be those
passengers with a desire to hold
the airlines accountable for every
undesirable situation that may
arise. However, the communication
channels of airlines have increased
in recent years, particularly with
the growth of instantaneous online
reporting and social media outlets.
Airlines realised that they needed
to at least be keeping pace with the
travelling public, if not ahead of the
curve. Otherwise, the information in
circulation would be third-hand and
out of their grasp.
If they failed to keep travellersinformed, a random Tweet could see
280 characters become hearsay and,
in turn, become perception. As we all
know, in the court of public opinion,
perception can quickly become
the accepted truth and spread like
wildfire. Recovering this situation
is nearly impossible, whereas being
proactive in the process returns a high
degree of control. This process extends
far beyond the ash-laden skies of Bali.
On a very micro-scale, the
flightcrew will often illuminate
the seatbelt sign if the possibility
of turbulence lies ahead. Clear air
turbulence can be very difficult to
predict, but reports from other aircraft
and meteorological information can
sometimes raise the hair on the back
of the neck of a pilot. In the interest
of safety, they may well err on the
side of caution and have the crew and
passengers seated and galley carts
secured, even though the current ride
is as smooth as silk. It’s always better
to be safe than sorry.
There will be days when the
turbulence never eventuates, and the
collective eye-rolling of the passengers
can almost be sensed through the
flightdeck door, even though the
conservative option was designed to
keep them safe.
Once again, a few honest words
over the public address system at the
outset can do wonders for the mood
in the cabin as the passengers feel
informed and part of the process.
Notably, there is an emphasis on
“a few words” as there can be an
excessive number of announcements
to the cabin at times.
If passengers are informed, then
they have some degree of control – and
it is a lack of control that is possibly
their most common grievance. We
must always remember that a huge
degree of trust is placed
in airlines and their
staff to take fare-paying
passengers into the
upper atmosphere and
at a high rate of knots
before returning them
safely to the earth.
For around 200,000
years, the highest a
human climbed was
a mountain-top. In
a century we haveconstructed one of humankind’s
greatest leaps of faith. For those of us
familiar with aviation the processes
seem logical, but for the majority, all
aspects of air travel are still a great
unknown. It is our responsibility to fill
in the gaps.
If a flight is delayed, but
passengers are given the best up-to-
date information, they can decide
whether to wait or change their plans.
If the seatbelt sign is on in smooth
conditions they can understand why
or if their recovery flight from Bali is
cancelled at the last minute due to
a wind shift, it is not a mystery. And
if that information is relayed before
they even leave home then significant
costs can possibly be saved by the
customer in terms of time, transfers
and accommodation.
Also, knowledge goes a long way
towards dispelling fear. Nervous flyers
can lash out and even frequent flyers
can feel trepidation when uncertainty
surrounds any aspect of their flight.
Ground staff and crew alike need to
respect this and ensure that part of
their process is to communicate with
their passengers at the appropriate
time, even though a million other
duties may seem to be calling.
On occasions disruptive inflight
incidents involving passengers
are not purely acts of anti-social
behaviour. While many undoubtedly
fit that bill, there are also those that
are manifestations of very nervous
passengers. Some drink or medicate to
alleviate those fears and unfortunately
their strategy fails. This doesn’t excuse
their behaviour, but for some, their
anxiety may be alleviated through
communication and information
before it festers.
The goal of flightcrew and their
airline is to deliver their precious
passengers to their destination in a
timely manner. However, their first
and foremost responsibility is to do
this safely and sometimes the two do
not necessarily co-exist in harmony.
Bridging that gap between duty-of-
care and schedules can occur through
the transfer of information in a timely
and easy-to-understand style.
And there are very few passengers
who will sincerely complain or argue
with a sentence that begins with the
phrase, “In the interest of safety”.‘There will
be days
when the
turbulence
never
eventuates.’
The goal of flightcrew and their
airline is to deliver their precious
passengers to their destination
in a timely manner.ROB FINLAYSONFilling the gaps
Keeping passengers informed in the interest of safety
FLIGHT LEVELS
A PILOTS VIEW