Airline Safety and the Importance of Communication in Aviation

July 19th is Flight Attendant Safety Professionals Day. Other than celebrating flight attendants and their labor, it’s also a great opportunity to talk about the importance of communication in the aviation industry and how a robust mass communication system helps pilots, flight attendants and the rest of the crew in the air and on the ground, make sure you’re safe at all times and have a comfortable flight.

Most of the time, communications during flights are routine and polite, but incidents such as unruly passengers, mechanical failures, changing weather conditions and other threats will engage safety procedures that require reliable communication systems to trigger action plans. Let’s explore how flight attendants and other crew members are trained to deal with special situations and how effective communication is crucial during emergencies and alerts.

Airline Travel Violence

In the last few years, airlines have seen an increase in unruly passengers and related incidents. Some of these cases involve violence against other passengers or crew members. Although this violence is rare, it’s alarming when it happens. According to the FAA, there have been 1,634 reports of unruly passengers, 555 investigations initiated and 359 enforcement action cases initiated as of July 12, 2022.

The most common type of unruly passenger involves someone who verbally abuses people on a plane. Other examples include someone who has too much to drink and stands up without a seat belt on; or a person who physically threatens other passengers or crew members. People disagreeing with mask mandates have also caused confrontations on airplanes that resulted in passengers being expelled from their flights and even arrested.

In response to the increase in incidents, many airlines have implemented new policies for dealing with unruly passengers. Airline employees must now take specific training courses regarding potential threats and security measures for handling difficult travelers. The TSA is training hundreds of flight attendants in self-defense so they can learn how to subdue violent passengers.

Pilots and flight attendants are certainly the unsung heroes of the sky. However, they rely on ground crews to guide them and assist them throughout the flight. Together, all of them rely on communication systems that help them stay connected and informed during day-to-day operations and during emergencies. Let’s talk about some of the ways a reliable mass communications platform such as Regroup can help the aviation industry.

Mass Communication for the Aviation Industry

Operating an airline or airports involves hundreds, if not thousands, of staff in various teams across various locations within a country and internationally. These teams and corporations need to rely on a robust and effective mass communication system that allows them to quickly send and receive messages about daily operations, last-minute changes, weather forecasts, emergency situations and other information that needs to reach the right people at the right time.

Regroup’s features for emergency communications include an easy-to-use but comprehensive unified communications interface with multiple fail-safe features to ensure alerts can always be launched, as well as APIs to automate emergency notification and tools for collecting on-the-scene intelligence to increase situational awareness.

During an emergency, airport and airline staff could potentially need to transmit critical information to people through different channels. A unified emergency management platform is most crucial when every second counts so you can rapidly transmit critical alerts to multiple communication channels simultaneously, including digital signage, PA systems, websites and social media — all with a single click from a user-friendly interface.

Additionally, police, firefighters and other emergency first responders need to be contacted and informed immediately in order for them to be able to coordinate responses and execute critical actions that may save lives.

Other Important Factors for Mass Communication Systems for Air Travel

Being able to communicate effectively includes the ability to perform real-time threat and intelligence monitoring to ensure situational awareness for business and operations continuity and staff and public safety. Large organizations such as airlines and airports need a scalable solution that provides actionable insights and alerts when security, safety and business continuity are endangered.

Daily operations of airports and airlines, including cargo airlines and other non-commercial flights, need to have a reliable way to communicate between large and small groups of people. From weather updates to changes in itineraries and other data, a reliable mass communication system is crucial for smooth operations.

Your Next Steps

We know flight attendants, pilots and all airport/airline personnel are unsung heroes who invest endless amounts of energy and dedication to ensuring passengers and cargo reach their destination safely. They deserve recognition and need a reliable communication system in order to do their jobs right. If you’re in charge of logistics, management, or communications in an airline or airport, we invite you to schedule a quick, no-hassle demonstration of the Regroup Mass Notification platform to learn how your organization can improve internal and external communications during emergency situations or day-to-day operations. Click here to get started.