Apr 27 2011: I have travelled a lot with my kids from our home in the Netherlands to visit my family in the US. Before that I travelled a lot on business. I think that if pilots just came to the gate 10 mins or so before they need to board and aircraft and spent a moment greeting the passengers who are about to join their flight, it would go a long way to easing some of the anxieties and tensions among the folks who are entrusting their lives to the pilots skills. Making that human connection rather than just the disembodied voice would help passengers to feel more like they are all on a journey together and would help to break the ice and the quiet tension and I would suggest would help folks start to talk to one another more. Usually you just see the flight crew rushing thru the crowd and there is no eye contact, no greeting, no personal connection. A lot of pilots try and make up for this with their banter over the intercom, but it is ineffective and a small investment of their time would reap large rewards.
TEDCred score: 0.00 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.
A comment on Conversation: Rethink the human-centered airline experience. *A TEDActive Travel Project*