# Pilot PAs usually annoy me. You? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2007, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-pas-usually-annoy-me-you/405884 "2007-05-29T07:57:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-pas-usually-annoy-me-you/405884/21 "2007-05-30T05:36:58Z")
Completely agree with the OP. I hate them (the useless announcements, not the pilots). Especially the red-eye pilots who are seemingly unaware that 92% of the flight is trying to sleep. Once, on a flight to the states, (after about three of these useless announcements, spaced so as to come on JUuuust as we were drifting off) my seatmates and I all said “ShUUUuuuT UP”! at the same time, and within earshot of a flight attendent. It was nice and quiet for the rest of the 3.5 hour flight to Seattle. I don’t know if our mini-mutiny did the trick or not, but anyway…Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-pas-usually-annoy-me-you/405884/22 "2007-05-30T16:06:36Z")
+2 (ok, +1 for the OP’s count, but I’m an aviation nut) I love the announcements, and wish I could fly United more, as when I do, I have the ATC channel on the entire time. If it’s not active, I ask the flight attendant if the pilot can enable it. (It’s available at the option of the pilot) More often than not, it either is on, or will be turned on by request. It doesn’t make much sense to those that aren’t into aviation, but for me, it’s really neat to hear the instruction to change directions, then feel the aircraft do so a moment later… and to understand what’s happening, and where we are in line pre-takeoff & post-landing. Though for the first couple of flights via O’Hare I didn’t really understand exactly why we were being sent to the “penalty box” to sit idling for a while! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-pas-usually-annoy-me-you/405884/23 "2007-05-30T16:55:41Z")
I am also uneasy about flying, and the pilot coming on two hours into a five hour saying there will be smooth sailing the rest of the way, even if he can’t be absolutely sure of that fact, does put me at ease. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-pas-usually-annoy-me-you/405884/24 "2007-06-03T20:53:19Z")
0 I really don’t care either way. Flying is no longer a novelty to me. If the announcements are done either very matter of fact or with some _brief_ levity they can be an asset, particulary to nervous co-passengers. Badly done, overly chatting, etc. ones are not helpful and can be downright annoying. In an emergency (real or apparent) I’d prefer the pilots to concentrate on flying the airplane and have the FA’s do the crowd control. The headset channel with the radio feed is more than satifysing for those interested in the piloting stuff in detail. Otherwise, most of the time I’m on an airliner I’m either looking out the window or reading a book. I have a strong ability to tune out auditory distractions, so I may miss the announcements entirely, or barely register them. I am gratified to know I’ve helped **anu-la1979** feel more comfortable about flying. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-pas-usually-annoy-me-you/405884/25 "2007-06-03T21:01:40Z")
[QUOTE=Broomstick] Badly done, overly chatting, etc. ones are not helpful and can be downright annoying. [/QUOTE] ‘This is your captain speaking. We’re entering just a bit of turbulence. Nothing to worry about. I mean, it’s not as if the wings are going to fall off! Heck that never happens. And when I say “never”, of course I mean that it happens sometimes but not very often. I mean, sure a thunderstorm could rip the aircraft to shreds and we’d all plummet to the ground. Only structural failures are exceedingly rare. There was that one plane a half a dozen years ago that lost its tail. And the airplane that blew up because of the faulty wiring. But that didn’t have anything to do with turbulence! So please return to your seats and fasten your crashbelts. Seatbelts. We’ll be through the bumps in no time. Enjoy the rest of your flight.’ ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-pas-usually-annoy-me-you/405884/26 "2007-06-03T21:33:10Z")
If they’re succinct, to the point, give ETA, maybe an advance notice of a sight coming up, then +1. Uh, erm, nothing useful, over a full cloud deck so nothing to see, just stopping us from hearing the movie, -1. The guy who says nothing, -1. The guy who provides every possible flight detail (I even heard what taxiway we’d be using once), +1 for me because I understand it, but -1 for non-pilot passengers, I admit. Humor is fine if it’s brief and good. The retired DC-10/747 captain I often copilot with in his light plane says he always used to love the Gardner approach into Boston, because at one point he could say “Folks, we’re now passing Ayer”. **Rooh Afza** , your chances are poor. If the plane is that low, it’s already in an approach, and “sterile cockpit” rules apply. Even the pilots aren’t allowed to talk about anything other than the task at hand. But you could get a handheld GPS unit, put in a waypoint at your home, and keep track. I haven’t flown NW for a while, but their DC-10’s used to have flight tracking maps themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-pas-usually-annoy-me-you/405884/27 "2007-06-03T21:48:17Z")
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves] But you could get a handheld GPS unit, put in a waypoint at your home, and keep track. [/QUOTE] I usually fly Alaska. They forbid the use of anything that receives a signal, including GPS. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-pas-usually-annoy-me-you/405884/28 "2007-06-03T21:51:29Z")
Well, there’s always an earlier technology, called “looking out the window”, available. Er, make that “pilotage”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-pas-usually-annoy-me-you/405884/29 "2007-06-03T21:52:43Z")
That’s what I meant about the sectionals and E6B. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-pas-usually-annoy-me-you/405884.md?page=1)