Cabin Interphone Alert: BING BONG
“Hello Gemma at Left 2”
“Hey babes, its Jess, just wondering if you’ve got any cheese plates left up the front? I’m so peckish!
It’s hard to imagine that once upon a time, there were planes flying through our skies without the now almost iconic flight attendant inter phone systems. If crew wanted to communicate with each other in another part of the plane, they’d have to physically relocate themselves to whoever they wanted to speak with. With sassy stews popularising the inter phone in their jump seat selfies, and TV and film depictions of mid air emergencies always featuring the PA and inter-phone, it’s hard to imagine flying without the phone. Of course who could forget the iconic Britney using the phone in such a luscious way. Also, Cabin Crew love to chat – it’s the very essence of this site – and we’ll use whatever tools to wag our tongues that we can! All hail the interphone!
Planes weren’t always equipped with easy communication at the touch of a button. During World War II, before the position of cabin crew even really existed as we know it, military pilots in open cockpit planes realised the difficulty in communicating with each other over the roaring of the engines. This led to confusion and unnecessary pilot error and ultimately was the reason behind the vast majority combat air-crashes, rather than enemy attack.
Because of this glaring problem, a very rudimentary, yet effective system was quickly installed using a funnel that pilots would speak into and connected to the pilots helmet and covering their ears. The first intercom, known as a Gosport system, was born.
From a cabin crew perspective, they interphone as we know it today, is probably one of our favourite pieces of equipment ever to be installed on a plane, but it’s existed with the same functionality for so long its often taken for granted. During the beginning of the commercial jet age from the late 1950s, inter phone systems began to be installed as standard among aircraft such as the Boeing 707. Today, we literally couldn’t do our jobs properly without them. Effective communication is an essential part of safety in the skies, and a quick response can be the difference between life and death.
That’s why there are a minimum number of phone stations required so that crew can easily and quickly reach an inter phone. At each set of main doors on narrow body aircraft, and at each crew station on a wide body, there must be a flightie phone. A fully functional interphone system is essential and is on a list of non-negotiable equipment required for the plane to depart. If it’s not working properly, even if it’s just too quiet or crackly, the flight shouldn’t depart until the issue is fixed.
“Hello this is your Cabin Manager Speaking, thank you so much for your attention, we also thank you for flying with us, we realise you have a choice when you choose who you fly with, and it’s just lovely to have you on board!”
PA Or Internal Phone – Which is more important?
The PA and private phone work in tandem as a way to communicate (not always important) information to our fellow crew and passengers . They each have vital uses, so neither is more important than the other. The private inter phone arguable gets more use on a long flight, but the PA probably used more on short sectors and essential in an emergency. It’s a vital method of ordering an evacuation, or calling for the assistance of a doctor.
The PA can be used to be heard in certain sections of the plane i.e. economy only and is a very useful way of assuaging concerns passengers may have, especially when the captain’s voice is heard. Lets be a little bit brutally honest too – sometimes the PA’s are just plain annoying, especially when you get a crew who loves the sound of their own voice.
You can call all stations at once and theoretically have a group chat – also known as a the party line, or you can call only one station to another
But you’re looking to whinge about another crew member, I’d recommend you don’t do it over the inter phone. You never quite know who is on the other end of the phone as anyone can pick up at the location you call and voices tend to sound quite similar over the line. I’ve heard stories where crew have thought they were talking to someone completely different than who they thought. I’ve also heard the pilots can listen in to cabin crew conversations at any time – but haven’t actually asked them to verify this! Need to know!
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20 Vital, Random, Standard, or Fun Reasons To Use the Aircraft Intercom/PA
- To check who is on break and what time they return
- To call the captain and ask him to put the seatbelt sign on
- To placate passengers about the IFE system being rebooted and that it will come back online soon
- To announce lost property found in the aisle or restroom
- To complete door arming/disarming and cross check call back
- To find out how long until top of descent
- To call a crew member in the galley and ask them to bring something for you or check supplies
- To help passengers settle into the flight and what they can expect
- To order an evacuation
- To call for back up during a in flight fire or other emergency
- To speed up the boarding process and give reminders on moving out of the aisle
- To announce the in flight service or duty free offerings
- To call the manager and request them to come
- To check how other crew somewhere else on the plane are doing/if they need anything
- To find out what the crew meals are
- To assertively tell passengers to sit down when the seatbelt sign is on
- To call for a medical professional to make themselves known to the crew
- To welcome and farewell passengers
- To alert or warn crew of an inflight incident via the priority ALL stations call.
- To pose for a selfie on the jumpseat, and tilt head back, a la Britney Spears
The Future of The Flightie Phone
Will we one day see each crew member carrying a mobile handset or a major re-imagining of the inter phone with other capabilities? Already airlines are providing crew with devices to improve the passenger experience – providing tablets to quickly respond to call requests and better serve their customers. It’s definitely air craft manufacturers might consider adding digital functionality to the old fashioned looking handsets. One thing is for sure, if you’re a flightie, communication is key and the phone is a major tool to help us do our jobs.
“Oh my lord, what a long winded announcement – loves the sound of her voice that one. Any excuse to make a PA and he will do it!”
