That’s The Policy
Sometimes, those 3 words just plain irritate me.
Policies should be meant to guide, not to shackle.
So, flying from Edmonton to Ottawa and then from Ottawa to St. John’s, I was lucky enough to be able to pre-book the emergency aisle row (a laypersons version of first class). This row comes with about 6 inches of extra legroom that feels like 4 feet two hours into a flight.
So, as the “policy” states, the flight attendants must warn all three occupants of this special row that in return for the bonus of six inches of legroom also comes the brave responsibility of lifting the handle, throwing out the door and all that stuff in case of an emergency. We all nod our
heads and accept this mission. The flight attendant nods back, and we are on our way.
4 hours later, we arrive for quick pit stop in Ottawa for 20 minutes. The same 3 people in the same emergency exit row stay on board en route to Newfoundland with me. The same flight attendant returns back to see us in the emergency row. Suddenly, she begins the same speech. So, three words into the robotic monologue I just had to chime in.
“Excuse me,” I said, “you gave all three of us this speech 4 hours ago and we agreed”.
She replied, “Well, that’s the policy,” and without losing a beat continued with the rest of the speech for the next 2 minutes, right up to the closing line “Do you accept this responsibility?”
We all looked at each other and nodded our heads in shock.
I am all for policies to make traveling safer… taking off the shoes, taking off the belt, the pat downs… bring it all on. These policies make sense and jive with me. But come on, isn’t it time to just use common sense and not to be shackled down with policies to the letter of the manual.
I am pretty sure the competition (the “friendliest airline in Canada”) would have found an imaginative way around this situation and turned the monologue into a lighthearted conversation. It’s a perfect time to drop a line like, “Guys, your wives called and warned me you have no short term memory, so I need to repeat the emergency aisle instructions again.”
Heck, I have seen the flight attendants of the real super-friendly airline make even the seatbelt instructions occasionally entertaining.
Kind of like this guy:
But that’s this airline’s policy. While this lady followed it to the letter as trained, it was also a perfect opportunity to handle a customer interaction in a more human way. When it comes to branding, everything matters. Even in Row 19 A, B and C.
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I deal with these air-heads on a daily basis…consider yourself lucky you only had to for a couple of hours…lol
So because I am one of those “air heads”, I just wanted to clarify something. If we repeat the Transport Canada Emergency Exit Briefing (AKA “policy”) on each leg, and there happened to be an Officer onboard, we could lose our jobs. So for the sake of annoying 2 or 3 people a day, I think it’s worth it. And you wouldn’t believe the amount of people who don’t pay attention to you and have no idea what you told them 4 hours ago! But I do agree with making it a little less robotic…a little personality goes a long way!
Sorry…if we don’t repeat it on each leg! Guess my airhead is kicking in! lol
So because they had to make sure you knew again for the second flight, you have to rant about it? She don’t know ya, it would be nice to make sure the by’s next to the door knows what to do when shit happens.
@Heidi F
I think you got the point of the blog – totally appreciate having to follow policies – but I think airlines like Southwest and West Jet have done a nice job in finding imaginative ways to handle these situations – so even when they are legally required to scoop up another serving of ‘vanilla’ they can shake it up and make it feel like Neopolitan. Agree with you on the paying attention thing – I am guilty of that – by the way now that I have you here where are the lifevests located?
@ybsey
not sure I get your point – but its Factory “policy” that I respond to your comment – give it another go…
That extra bit of personality will perhaps make the people in those seats remember better. Then if something happens they can totally rock the emergency door situation.
That said, why are there not better ways to survive on a plane beyond sticking your head between your knees and well you get the rest.
You’d think there would be some kind of detachable “life raft” like things equipped with multiple parachutes. Or some kind of Tony Stark like gadget that transforms the plane into a helicopter or… something.
Loved the video!