Passengers to Captain and Purser: Shut up!

Hvordan i all verden vil da Ryanair overleve? De annonserer salg av alt mulig så lenge turen varer.... Generelt sett synes jeg personlig at det funker godt i dag. (Red.)

Virgin Australia reducing disruptive in-flight announcements

Virgin Australia says it's reducing disruptive in-flight announcements as some customers find them to be annoying interruptions.



"This is the captain not speaking..." Photo credit: Getty

If you find interruptions to your in-flight entertainment by the captain and cabin crew annoying, Virgin Australia feels your frustration.

The Australian airline announced it'll be slashing 750 jobs after posting a loss of AU$315.4 million this week, which also saw its shares drop 6 percent in a day.

Virgin Australia's new chief experience officer, Danielle Keighery, told The Australian that as well as getting rid of staff, the airline is looking at other ways to improve its service without spending cash.

"One of the things we've uncovered in some of the research we've been doing is people get sick of hearing or being disturbed by too many announcements in flight," Keighery said.

"So we've actually cut down on those announcements, making sure we still cover the safety perspective but reducing the number of times we interrupt people.

"They're the sort of things you can do that don't actually cost more money but provide a better experience for our customers."

On Twitter, a few Kiwis have piped up with opinions on the Virgin Australia move, including comparing it to Air New Zealand's service.

"As someone who has a great fear of flying, their announcements often explain when to expect bumps, how the landing and take off will be. It's been a godsend to have these and improve my confidence when flying," said Data Ventures director Drew Broadley.

"Air NZ is definitely one of the worst for this, including inane jokes to show how relaxed and Kiwi it is," said lobbyist Matthew Hooton.

Tony Brown of Huawei Australia tweeted: "Nothing more annoying than having the in-flight entertainment interrupted by Chief Steward droning on about 'what a pleasure it is to have you on board'."

Virgin Australia also says it's upgrading its in-flight menu.

"We'll be taking inspiration from the global Virgin brands rather than our competitors here," Ms Keighery told The Australian.


"I'm very confident we will only improve the customer experience through having a deep understanding of what the Virgin experience stands for."

Do you like hearing from the captain, or hate it?