Lack of Communication (Airports)
Discussion
It's a common criticism when things go wrong at airports; "nobody is telling us anything".
I fly a fair bit and thankfully have avoided major problems but had two in the last week. Last Sunday; a 00.05 flight became a 12.30pm flight (flat tyre noticed before we set off) and yesterday flew back into Stansted amidst the chaos there of yesterday morning.
It struck me that those providing information were telling people all they knew which in both cases, was fairly straight forward.
For our outbound; we were told there was a problem. Hotel booked. Flight rescheduled for midday; all connections will be sorted.
Yesterday, told there were operational problems: bags may take a little longer to arrive. For those leaving yesterday, the announcements seemed pretty clear - leave the airport, contact airline and try again later.
It's a pain I know but what other detail do people expect to receive?
I fly a fair bit and thankfully have avoided major problems but had two in the last week. Last Sunday; a 00.05 flight became a 12.30pm flight (flat tyre noticed before we set off) and yesterday flew back into Stansted amidst the chaos there of yesterday morning.
It struck me that those providing information were telling people all they knew which in both cases, was fairly straight forward.
For our outbound; we were told there was a problem. Hotel booked. Flight rescheduled for midday; all connections will be sorted.
Yesterday, told there were operational problems: bags may take a little longer to arrive. For those leaving yesterday, the announcements seemed pretty clear - leave the airport, contact airline and try again later.
It's a pain I know but what other detail do people expect to receive?
I think this is more to do with psychology than anything else. Being treated like a pleb and fobbed off with generic s
t doesn't inform people, it rubs them up the wrong way.
When the pilot announces a technical failure, everyone will go urgh and get arsey. But if the pilot said 'Oh heck, we've got a flat tyre' and then informs passengers that it takes X number of hours to replace a wheel, people will feel better informed and know more about the issue.
It boils down to the simple notion of fear of the unknown. A good example is the film Jaws - where swimmers were randomly gobbled up by a shark you only see properly at the end of the film. Jaws was successful as it preyed on the fear of the unseen and unknown.
Being kept in the dark, but knowing there is a problem but not knowing what the problem is, increases stress levels.
On a trip to London, the train was delayed outside Reading. Someone had topped themselves towards Slough. As passengers, we knew somethign was wrong as the train was stationary for an hour, but we weren't told why. Tensions rose in the carriage, the frustration was not to do with the delay but what was perceived as an unnecessary delay.
What struck me as odd was that people started phoning their destinations to say they'd be late - but couldn't say how late they'd be. I phoned rail enquiries instead and was told it was a minimum of an hours delay, but not told why. So I did some searching and found a news report of an ongoing incident near Slough, reports of someone in collision with a train.
Once I told the other plebs in the carriage that basically it was over an hours delay, and someone had topped themselves, the tension decreased. There was an answer WHY we were delayed.
I'd love to dig out some of the psychology studies on this phenomenon and see it repeated. Examine the physiological responses in subjects told a road is closed and given no further information, comapred to people told the road is closed due to a fatal collision, subsidence or a tractor having lost a load of hay.
Think about it.....
"The flight is delayed due to a technical issue/ We have a puncture"
"The bridge is closed, use the diversion/ One of the bridge supports is rotten and has failed, use the diversion"
"The road is closed/ There's been a fatal collision"
"We can't take off due to operational issues/ We're not getting refuelled due to the lightning".
Read the above statements and concentrate on how you feel and respond when reading them.
Right... back to the gardening.
t doesn't inform people, it rubs them up the wrong way.When the pilot announces a technical failure, everyone will go urgh and get arsey. But if the pilot said 'Oh heck, we've got a flat tyre' and then informs passengers that it takes X number of hours to replace a wheel, people will feel better informed and know more about the issue.
It boils down to the simple notion of fear of the unknown. A good example is the film Jaws - where swimmers were randomly gobbled up by a shark you only see properly at the end of the film. Jaws was successful as it preyed on the fear of the unseen and unknown.
Being kept in the dark, but knowing there is a problem but not knowing what the problem is, increases stress levels.
On a trip to London, the train was delayed outside Reading. Someone had topped themselves towards Slough. As passengers, we knew somethign was wrong as the train was stationary for an hour, but we weren't told why. Tensions rose in the carriage, the frustration was not to do with the delay but what was perceived as an unnecessary delay.
What struck me as odd was that people started phoning their destinations to say they'd be late - but couldn't say how late they'd be. I phoned rail enquiries instead and was told it was a minimum of an hours delay, but not told why. So I did some searching and found a news report of an ongoing incident near Slough, reports of someone in collision with a train.
Once I told the other plebs in the carriage that basically it was over an hours delay, and someone had topped themselves, the tension decreased. There was an answer WHY we were delayed.
I'd love to dig out some of the psychology studies on this phenomenon and see it repeated. Examine the physiological responses in subjects told a road is closed and given no further information, comapred to people told the road is closed due to a fatal collision, subsidence or a tractor having lost a load of hay.
Think about it.....
"The flight is delayed due to a technical issue/ We have a puncture"
"The bridge is closed, use the diversion/ One of the bridge supports is rotten and has failed, use the diversion"
"The road is closed/ There's been a fatal collision"
"We can't take off due to operational issues/ We're not getting refuelled due to the lightning".
Read the above statements and concentrate on how you feel and respond when reading them.
Right... back to the gardening.
I used to have the same thing in all sorts of situations with my ex.
She used to get really worked up by this. She would want to know what the problem was, what they were doing to overcome it and exactly how long it would take. I couldn't see the relevance of that information - I can't do anything to change the situation and I'll have to wait anyway, so I might as well just accept it.
If your flight is delayed, how will it help you to know who is repairing what? If they can let you know roughly how long you'll have to wait, that's useful.
She used to get really worked up by this. She would want to know what the problem was, what they were doing to overcome it and exactly how long it would take. I couldn't see the relevance of that information - I can't do anything to change the situation and I'll have to wait anyway, so I might as well just accept it.
If your flight is delayed, how will it help you to know who is repairing what? If they can let you know roughly how long you'll have to wait, that's useful.
Wiccan of Darkness said:
Think about it.....
"The flight is delayed due to a technical issue/ We have a puncture"
"The bridge is closed, use the diversion/ One of the bridge supports is rotten and has failed, use the diversion"
"The road is closed/ There's been a fatal collision"
"We can't take off due to operational issues/ We're not getting refuelled due to the lightning".
Read the above statements and concentrate on how you feel and respond when reading them.
Right... back to the gardening.
1) I can't/I'm not allowed to change the tyre, so it's irrelevant to me"The flight is delayed due to a technical issue/ We have a puncture"
"The bridge is closed, use the diversion/ One of the bridge supports is rotten and has failed, use the diversion"
"The road is closed/ There's been a fatal collision"
"We can't take off due to operational issues/ We're not getting refuelled due to the lightning".
Read the above statements and concentrate on how you feel and respond when reading them.
Right... back to the gardening.
2) I can't repair the bridge so it's irrelevant to me
3) I can't reverse the accident, the outcome for me is the same though
4) I can't change the weather
Ultimately the outcome in each is the same for me, so I see no difference. I really would feel like that if they were real situations in which I found myself.
Jimmy Recard said:
I used to have the same thing in all sorts of situations with my ex.
She used to get really worked up by this. She would want to know what the problem was, what they were doing to overcome it and exactly how long it would take. I couldn't see the relevance of that information - I can't do anything to change the situation and I'll have to wait anyway, so I might as well just accept it.
If your flight is delayed, how will it help you to know who is repairing what? If they can let you know roughly how long you'll have to wait, that's useful.
I'm like you, fortunately the wife is the same as me; if there is a delay then there is a delay, the reason for said delay doesn't change the fact that there is a delay so why the hell do I need to know what the exact reason for the delay is, yes any delay is a pain but hey ho.She used to get really worked up by this. She would want to know what the problem was, what they were doing to overcome it and exactly how long it would take. I couldn't see the relevance of that information - I can't do anything to change the situation and I'll have to wait anyway, so I might as well just accept it.
If your flight is delayed, how will it help you to know who is repairing what? If they can let you know roughly how long you'll have to wait, that's useful.
People get far too worked up and I think it comes down to the fact that people now seem to think that they have rights and should be included in everything; a couple of months ago the wife and her friend were delayed in Prague due to fog at Stansted, she said that she couldn't believe the amount of self entitled people that A) demanded to be kept in constant contact about the delay and what was happening and being done about the delay (err it's the weather, you can't do a great deal) and B) the amount of abuse that the airline staff received, she actually over heard an air steward snap at someone who had a go at him about the delay when they boarded; FFS!!
I can understand it from both sides. People have time and money vested in trips and holidays. The airlines run to tight schedules with rarely room for error. One delay knocks on. It's the cost of cheap flight travel. On the other hand maybe for one year, airlines should be forced to tell the truth or face a humongous fine to see if being honest works.
vikingaero said:
I can understand it from both sides. People have time and money vested in trips and holidays. The airlines run to tight schedules with rarely room for error. One delay knocks on. It's the cost of cheap flight travel. On the other hand maybe for one year, airlines should be forced to tell the truth or face a humongous fine to see if being honest works.
Huh? This is the gist of most delay announcements:"We have a problem that is causing a delay. We will try to resolve it as soon as possible to minimise the inconvenience to you."
That is the truth, it's just ambiguous. But that really is all that is necessary.
"We are having to perform a repair to the folange, but unfortunately this takes our mechanics quite a while as they have to remove the flux capacitor and the long weight for access and unfortunately they need to find the spirit level bubbles that Jim the alcoholic who works in stores misplaced. No idea when you'll be on your way, but at least you know that now."
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