Still on the subject of detail this is what struck me about my flights on United. On the way out to New York the service was fine, but the cabin announcements, as usual, deeply cliched and scripted.
I’m always a bit bemused by the adspeak they get the cabin crew to recite. Especially that ghastly line about the tiddly seatback video being “for your viewing pleasure”. No real person talks like this. I feel sorry for the staff having to do this, and when I feel sorry for the staff it’s a sign of a missed opportunity by management.
Then in contrast, I noticed what a difference it made when the Captain started calling out the sights out of the windows as we followed the US coastline. Not because the sights were so remarkable, but because the intention seemed positive and this wasn’t a script. Likewise his simple updates about what was happening when our taxiing at JFK was held up. It really doesn’t take much to establish some kind of human contact.
A little bit of Improv training wouldn’t go amiss at United.
