“This is your pilot speaking…” and all the passengers anxiously sit and give him their full attention (unless you are a seasoned flyer). Yet the truth is, the pilot is trained to say ‘Nothing’.
All the statistics and straight talk, however, doesn’t overcome a certain anxiety about rushing through the air in metal tubes, filled with highly flammable fuel, 10 km high, at 1000 kph.
Airlines do not deliberately mislead, or give out false information, but the pilot has been remorselessly grilled to give out ‘no information’. Every time a pilot picks up a microphone to speak to the passengers his career and the airline’s reputation is on the line. The fear of saying the wrong thing according to company policy, has the captain hog-tied and muffled beyond belief.
Crews manuals contain numerous stipulations and ‘what not to say’, as well as about what the pilot can, or cannot say publicly. To the point where some pilots are put through a brief charm school course prior to earning their stripes.
So the next time you hear a pilot on the intercom, take a short time to consider what he is ‘Not Saying’.
Sounds rather like a lot of politicians and diplomats to me, but remember the pilot is as keen to stay alive as you are.
