Page 30 - Volume 19 Number 10

28 • TWIN & TURBINE OCTOBER 2015From the Flight Deck Old-Schoolby Kevin R. DingmanIwas talking with a flight attendant the other day about changes in the airline business; water cooler talk–or, in Part 121 parlance, “sit-time” talk. We haveabout an hour between flights to “sit” – if we don’t have to change planes and move thirty or forty gates away, that is. When we keep the same plane, we have time to engage in conversation. The talk is normally about life at home, politics, or complaints from both directions about hotels, pay, or expensive food while traveling. Sometimes it’s about management: “If I were running this airline....” or “that was a bad decision they made about....” Or, the most common: “did you hear they re- interpreted the contract again?” It can get very heated. Other times, it’s about the good-old-days at the airline.The flight attendant and I reminisced about how our areas of expertise, and the world, has changed. From her perspective, it was the service we used to provide: un-rushed boarding, cloth napkins and silverware, and reasonably tasty food throughout the cabin. Magazines, pillows and blankets, and a rested, knowledgeable and polite staff were the standard. And, from my perspective, it was the way Captains used to be Captains in addition to being the PIC: demonstrating leadership of the crew and command of the vessel, greeting and saying goodbye to the folks, keeping them informed of delays, turbulence, and the geography along the route of flight. By the time the passengers get on the plane these days, they have been beaten down by a long drive to the airport, additional fees at the ticket counter, a strip-search by TSA and a less-than-cheerful gate agent. The flight crew has their work cut out for them before the passengers cross the threshold into the jet.What brought up the subject of changes in the business was the P.A.’s that I make to the passengers on every leg. The flight attendants hear them, and sometimes they actually h-e-a-r them and make comments. There’s a few things about seat belts, and not hanging around the cockpit door that are mandatory, but except for those, time enroute, and changes in geography, my P.A.’s are pretty much the same words; I could do them in my sleep. I’m told, however, that this type of in-flight oratory is uncommon; that most captains have changed and say very little or nothing at all to the people. Granted, because of communication and navigation satellites, the internet or video screens throughout the cabin of“modern” airliners, most flight information is provided in real-time. Now-a-days, the passengers know as quickly as the pilots about routes, weather and gate changes;so, like this intentionally rambling sentence, the need for a rambling P.A. has disappeared – even become annoying to some; God forbid we interrupt a game on their electronic devices. Annoying unless, that is, you enjoy human interaction or the reassuring, calming voice of the grey-haired Captain.People SkillsMost people are annoyed by a rambling sentence or a rambling P.A. So, over the years, I’ve refined my P.A. (and sentence structure) based on input from editors, flight attendants and customer comments. I now talk to the passengers at the top of climb, once every hour and once thirty minutes before landing. I invite kids to the cockpit before and after flight and sometimes hand out Disney “Airplane” coloring books and a five-pack of washable crayons or a junior-pilot logbook. Usually, ten or so of the 140 customers will say something to me on the way out the door after every flight. They mention the P.A.’s or say “nice landing”. They want to shake my hand or take a picture with us – kids give us drawings. I’ve even run into a handful of T&T readers. It’s nice. After 21,000 hours, apparently I’ve developed an acceptable level of people skills and have discovered how to put down a smooth landing. Of course, the company wants its employees to exhibit good public relations skills, so this is all good for business. It helps to offset the times when things don’t go as smoothly as we would all hope.One frequent-flyer told me that the way I fly was “old- school.” It reminded him of better days; like the ones the flight attendant and I remembered. He missed the way airline flying used to be – without all the electronic gadgetry. When you looked out the windows, had good food, read magazines and talked to your fellow travelers. Passengers used to network with each other before networking was a word, and some even met their spouses- to-be in this way. It was like getting gas at a full-service gas station, fruits and vegetables from the farmer’s