Industry Comment


Time to test the thesaurus


Unintelligible public announcements do nothing to enhance the flying experience argues Rob Britton. A little more thought, and some creativity, can have a significant impact


Airlines, especially those serious about delivering a quality passenger experience, spend enormous money and time on tangible


improvements. Some work hard on intangibles, which, because they usually involve humans, are harder to fix – and to keep fixed. Almost no one cares about the quality of the words spoken on board and in the airport, despite the reality that oral communication is a vital touchpoint. We’re not talking about interpersonal communication here. Rather, we’ll focus on the poor quality of the scripts used for ‘PAs’, or public announcements. In many cases, even among quality carriers, these announcements are simply awful. They are wordy, filled with jargon, and built with poor grammar and tortured syntax (word order). Sadly, it has long been this way, and the


proof is that U.S., British, and other comedians have been lampooning ‘Airlinese’ for nearly 50 years – ever since air travel became mass transportation. There have been some shining exceptions, such as Air New Zealand’s bare-all safety announcement, and Southwest Airlines’ willingness to let cabin crew ad lib and add fun, but mostly these announcements


are dreadful. Even brand-new airlines, with customer propositions often based on being everything older airlines are not, speak Airlinese to their passengers. Does it matter? Isn’t it background noise? Of course it matters. Many of these communications ask people to comply, but people cannot or will not obey what they do not understand. In fact, some evidence exists


“In fact, some evidence exists (from psychological research) that bloated language may encourage unco-operative behaviour”


(from psychological research) that bloated language may encourage unco-operative behaviour. Briefer, clearer announcements may not reduce the stress that many air travellers experience, but decreasing ‘noise clutter’ produces a better customer experience. And we must address the needs of a growing number of customers who are not native English speakers and who may be new to flying. These passengers may not understand ‘illuminated’, but will obey if they hear ‘the light is on’. Giving them clear and simple words will increase understanding and compliance, and – just as important – make them feel welcome. To be fair,


some safety authorities, like the U.S. FAA,


can be quite rigid about wording


(they once insisted that an announcement


include both the word ‘sign’ and ‘placard’, which is the same as a sign!). But rather than simply yielding, we need to push back, politely, and challenge abuse of the language. And sometimes things get fixed only to revert in a few years’ time, when some self-appointed expert rewrites the scripts. But rather than continue to be cranky, here are


six simple ideas for making inflight and other announcements clear, simple, and sincere: 1. Short sentences are better than long ones. 2. The active voice is better than the passive, and personal pronouns like ‘we’ are crisp and effective (‘we request that’ works better than ‘is requested by’) 3. Simple words are better than complex ones – and much better than airline-industry or government jargon 4. Redundancy is bothersome, and hinders compliance 5. Contextual clues enable shorter messages (you don’t have to use ‘airline’ as an adjective preceding ‘terminal’, because no patron will think they’re in a bus terminal) 6. Colloquial words are not slang; ‘your stuff’ may be a better choice than ‘personal belongings’ Wouldn’t it be nice to hear someone announce, with a smile, ‘Don’t forget your stuff’? Dr. Rob Britton (rob.britton@airlearn.


net) leads AirLearn (www.AirLearn.Net), a consultancy that helps people to understand the complex and ever-changing airline industry, and to translate those insights and knowledge into effective business results. And he can write your new PA scripts, too!


Dr. Rob Britton leads AirLearn (www.AirLearn. Net), a consultancy that helps people to understand the complex and ever-changing airline industry, and to translate those insights and knowledge into effective business results.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68