10. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking
Do you pay attention when the pilot comes over the PA? Maybe you will from now on! In this episode, First Officer Rosy Helbig explains the critical role of voice in flying, why jargon matters and the reactions she still gets when people hear a FEMALE voice from the cockpit.
Transcript
Sally: Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I'm sure you've heard those words or words to that effect, beam out of the cockpit when you're on a plane. Many of us fly around, never seeing whose hands we're putting our lives into, but we do hear them and now you're going to hear from an amazing airline pilot, Rosie Helbig. She explains how voice is critical for safety, important for gaining trust, and are people still shocked to hear a female voice from the cockpit? Stay tuned to find out. I'm Sally Prosser and you're listening to That Voice Podcast. No matter who you are or what you do, your voice matters and unless you've sworn a lifetime vow of silence, this is the podcast for you.
In this episode, I'm upping my game upping it sky high above the clouds to something like 35,000 feet, so stay with me and my bad airline puns because I'm taking voice to new heights. I'm so excited to have a chat with a fabulous Airbus pilot. Her name is First Officer Rosina Helbig and she's been flying for major Australian airlines for more than a decade. She's currently flying the A320's based out of Adelaide with Jetstar. And it's no surprise why I wanted Rosie in particular on That Voice Podcast. Not only can she fly planes, she's a champion for women in aviation, helps mentor young female pilots and her Instagram is pretty stunning. You know how you snap those great shots on the tarmac or out the window in the air. Well imagine what Rosie sees from the flight deck. It is gorgeous. Rosie, I'm so thrilled to chat with you. Welcome aboard That Voice Podcast.
Rosy : Sally, thank you so much for that wonderful introduction and for inviting me aboard your show.
Sally: Very first podcast. Very exciting.
Rosy: It is. Thank you.
Sally: So my first question is could you do your job if you lost your voice?
Rosy : That's a very good question and quite simply the answer is no. As a pilot, communication's absolutely essential. So we work in a team environment and we liaise with a lot of stakeholders to get the flight safely from A to B. So it's absolutely essential that I can communicate using my voice.
Sally: Yeah, I think a lot of passengers might forget that the cabin is just one area that you're beaming into. Who else do you talk to when you're up there?
Rosy : Yes, the cockpit is really, it's become a bit of a secret world since all of these security changes. So aside from air traffic control, I do liaise of course with my captain and the cabin crew. We liaise with ground crew, our company on the ground to get allocated bays to request any specific special requirements for people with wheelchairs. And we can also speak to our operations department when we're airborne, engineering and also med link if we have any medical questions whilst we're airborne.
Sally: So pretty busy up there, a lot busier than we'd probably appreciate back in the cabin.
Rosy : Yes. I think a lot of people might perceive that during cruise it can be a bit quiet and we might sit back and eat our dinner, but there's always something to be done.
Sally: Yeah. And one thing I've always wondered is there a bit of a script? Is there something that the company says you have to announce over the speaker or is it free range?
Rosy : We have a little bit of flexibility and we do like to make our PA's somewhat personable. We do have to mention the seatbelt policy and you'll hear this on every flight that you're on around Australia and probably the whole world. That once the seatbelt sign has been switched off that you're in your seats, so please keep your seatbelts comfortably fastened just in case of any unexpected turbulence, aside from that, it's a bit of a general guide. So I like to speak about where we're going. So the time we get to our destination, if we're on time, what the weather is at our destination and also what type of flight we can expect. So if there's any turbulence along the way or anything like that.
Sally: And do you like to have a bit of fun with it? Like I know sometimes, especially when flights are delayed, it's kind of nice when the pilot acknowledges that kind of thing. Do you do that?
Rosy : We try not to, I think the term is sky larking. We as pilots do have to stay professional and somewhat serious. It's not easy making a delay PA. But that's something that with experience becomes a little bit more easy.
Sally: Yeah. And do you enjoy doing it?
Rosy : You know, I do enjoy making PA's and I put that down to me enjoying my job and enjoying flying and I just want to share that with all of our passengers sometimes. I think I'm really just a bit of a tourist and I love looking at the window and looking at our beautiful country and how it changes over the seasons.
Sally: Yeah. Cause there's times when pilots will say, okay, if you're on the left and you look at the left side, we've got a beautiful view coming into wherever city it is. Do you do that kind of thing?
Rosy : Yes, I do. If I'm familiar with the destination and we know exactly how we'll be approaching that airport and what we'll see out of any particular side, if there's something of significance, I do like to mention what our passengers can expect to see.
Sally: And being a female pilot, unfortunately there's still not that many around. Do you get a reaction when people hear that 'surprise, surprise. You're a woman!'
Rosy : I do. In Australia, women make up approximately 5% of all pilot license holders. Just 5%, that's not very many. So whilst my colleagues are used to working with females, the general public haven't all had the opportunity to have one as their pilot yet. So I often make a point in my PAs of mentioning that I'm the pilot flying them on that particular sector. And often at the end of the flight, a passenger might make a comment to the cabin crew or as they're disembarking if the flight deck door is open. Sometimes they'll send in a few words of support as they're leaving the aircraft, which is quite funny. But generally the reaction is it is quite positive.
Sally: That's good to hear. Do you still get any negative sentiment from people?
Rosy : I can probably count on one or two hands over my career the amount of negative comments that I've had. But generally people are overwhelmingly supportive. I'm surprised I'm still today a lot of people are surprised to see a female in the flight deck and generally as they're disembarking they will ask, "Oh, was that you?" And I'll respond. "Yes." Then they say, "Oh, okay, good on you." So I'm glad that I can perhaps change people's perceptions of what an airline pilot might look like.
Sally: Yeah. Cause it's definitely that surprise. I remember sitting next to somebody and having a female voice come over and he just said to me, "Oh, it's a woman." I replied it, well it could be a man with a very high pitched voice. We don't know. But it was just interesting that that was the visceral reaction I guess to it.
Rosy : Yes. And that's good. It means that he was listening to the PA.
Sally: Yeah. Which is always a good sign. Yeah. Do you sometimes feel like you're just talking to a brick wall, especially when you can't, you know, see passenger's responses?
Rosy : You know, sometimes I believe that can help in the delivery of a PA - that you can't see your passengers, particularly if you're a little bit shy with public speaking. On the other hand though, you do hear that people may not always pay attention as we're just saying to the PAs. But sometimes being a female I think is a bit of an advantage and people do- so I've heard from our cabin crew - pay more attention when they hear a female voice.
Sally: Well that's good, isn't it? It is. And have you ever had to use your voice in an emergency?
Rosy : I have had on a few occasions a medical emergency where we have to request priority to land and we do have a set guide of things to say. So it is very important at that time to be very clear, be very concise, and to not really drift off into too much detail.
Sally: Yeah. And how do you do that? How do you find the balance between telling people what's going on but not giving away too much information and then also keeping your voice sounding calm?
Rosy : It is a bit of a delicate balance. There is a standard phrasiology in aviation. However, at times you do need to break away from that if it's just easier to get the message across to speak in plain language as well. The best thing I think to remember, particularly in that circumstance where you have medical emergency is that it is important to convey that information clearly so that you can have the best possible outcome for that passenger.
Sally: Yeah. And with all this pressure on your voice, I'm interested to know, have you ever had any voice training?
Rosy : No, I haven't. I'm not sure if that's something that other airlines provide. But that's certainly something to consider in the future actually. Cause I can definitely see the advantage from a passenger point of view of having someone that has had some voice training.
Sally: Yeah. Well it's just interesting from my perspective because the main thing I deal with is tension. You know, people getting nervous. And then when everything gets tense, that's when the voice will go on you. And especially when there's high stakes, I can imagine it's challenging for you to just breathe and sound calm even though the situation might necessarily not be that calm.
Rosy : Right. That's interesting. I think pilots are very well trained, you know, they're flying and radio procedures. But in terms of communicating with the passengers, that's probably something that can get a little bit lost amongst at all.
Sally: Yeah, and I was interested to read that pilots have a bit of a special language, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but I've read here that the autopilot is called George.
Rosy : Right?
Sally: Maybe that's just something in the US, I found it in an article.
Rosy : Maybe it is something that's used more casually in the US I haven't come across that term in my flying career yet though. But I like it. Maybe that's something that I could use at work and see if that rubs off.
Sally: Well maybe we can just say Georgina.
Rosy : Yes, I prefer that.
Sally: I was also, you know, reading that you don't say just the letters like B because that can sound like D or E or G but you use Bravo, Delta, Echo. Is that something that comes easily to you? Like will you be taught that before you started flying? Cause I can imagine in the early days it'd be a bit tricky knowing what letters, what word.
Rosy : It can be. So what you're referring to there is the phonetic alphabet which is used in the aviation. Probably some other industries too. And like you said it's just to avoid confusion. Like you said, B can sound like D. And I learned that very early on in my training, I'm stretching my brain back to think about when that was very early days of training and there is throughout early private license training, more focus on the phrasiology and from there it just also comes with some experience and airlines often have their own guide of terms to use. And then overall the aviation law has its own specific phraseology that we use as well.
Sally: Well, I guess all industries have jargon, but aviation would be one of those that has quite a lot.
Rosy : It really is a world unto itself.
Sally: It does make it easy to understand because if you're using two or three syllables, it's a lot easier than one. And so I wanted to ask you, has there ever been a situation where something's gone wrong because of a miscommunication or someone making a mistake with the words?
Rosy : Personally, I can't think of anything specific, but there is a very big and quite tragic event that happened some years ago in Tenerife in the Canary islands that I can think of where it was quite a foggy day. There was an aircraft crossing a runway and another aircraft that was waiting to take off. They were given some instructions and the word takeoff was used, but they weren't actually cleared for takeoff. And this aircraft proceeded to take off despite not having the clearance. And unfortunately, just as they got airborne, they collided with that other aircraft on the ground. It was a great example at the time of how important it is to use standard phrasiology and communicate clearly during times of high pressure and fatigue.
Sally: Wow. Yeah. It really goes to show that just communication is so paramount isn't it?
Rosy : It is, yes and that example's been used for decades since obviously as an example of how important it is to communicate clearly and not steer away from our standard operating procedures.
Sally: Yeah, I'm sure something like that story would really stick with you.
Rosy : It does. Yes. Yeah.
Sally: So to finish off, I've just got a couple of questions which show my ignorance. What does it mean when you say "arm doors and crosscheck"?
Rosy : Right. That's something you'll hear on most aircraft throughout the world. To arm a door. It's arming essentially the emergency escape slide. So you'll hear that on the ground. So if there was an emergency on the ground where you need to evacuate, the doors can be opened and the emergency escape slides will inflate and then the passengers can use those slides to exit the aircraft. And that cannot be activated while you're airborne. But again, after you land, you'll be able to use the emergency escape slides. But then you'll notice there'll be an instruction to disarm the doors and that means that you'll no longer be able to use those slides.
Sally: Right, and why do you have to have your windows shades up, takeoff and landing?
Rosy : That's a very good question and that's so that any of the crew can see what's happening outside the aircraft, that's cabin crew. If there was a perhaps a malfunction with the aircraft, they can then report to the pilots in the flight deck about what they can see, so we really value the experience of our cabin crew and what they can see and the information that they can give us to help in making a decision or to troubleshoot if there was some sort of issue or emergency.
Sally: Yeah. Interesting. I just have one more for you. Why aren't you allowed to have your seatbelt on when you're refueling?
Rosy : Another good question that's so in case there is perhaps a spill of fuel or a fire that you can evacuate the aircraft as quickly as possible.
Sally: I thought that might be the case. Rosie, it's been so fascinating chatting with you. Before we go, I know you're such a champion for young women, especially getting into aviation. If anyone listening is interested in flying, what would you suggest that they do?
Rosy : Get out there and have a go go to your local flying school and ask to do what's called a trial instruction flight. And generally that's just a half an hour flight where you can have your own chance to control an airplane and feel what it's like to climb and descend and turn and see if it's something that you might want to pursue either for fun or for career because I really enjoy the job and we'd like to see more people joining the industry.
Sally: Do you find that still a lot of young girls coming through don't see it as a job for them?
Rosy : That's something we're trying to change. And there's some really great initiatives at the moment that are reaching out to school aged girls to show them that the aviation and being a pilot is a career for them. And really important that girls know that if they're interested in flying it's something that they are able to do. And that your gender has nothing to do with whether you'll be successful or not in that role.
Sally: Yeah, well especially with something like flying when it's not reliant on physical strength necessarily.
Rosy : That's true. And with only 5% of pilots being women in Australia today, they may not see many women around the airports and assume that perhaps it is a job just for men. So I do like to see initiatives where women do get out there and interact or are visible in promotional campaigns so that younger girls can see that it could be a career for them too.
Sally: Yeah, fantastic. They say, you know, you can't be what you can't see.
Rosy : Exactly. It's a great motto and that's something we're really trying to change.
Sally: Fantastic. And finally, where can people find you, Rosie?
Rosy : Oh, great. If they want to find me, I'm on Instagram @rosie_b.
Sally: Just another question on Instagram. How long did it take you to build such a big following?
Rosy : Oh, thank you. I've been on Instagram, I'm trying to remember how long, for at least 10 years.
Sally: Oh very early adopter.
Rosy: Very, very early. And I have a funny story about that. I just preferred Instagram because I felt like I was sharing the content with like-minded people. Unlike other social media platforms you feel like you might be forcing your content upon your connections. A friend told me that to be cool on Instagram, you need to have more people following you than you're following.
Sally: Oh that's definitely not me.
Rosy: And so it started out as a bit of a challenge to each other and then it kind of took off from there and it's been really wonderful.
Sally: Everything on your account is just so positive and so joyful and I really would recommend everybody to start following because who doesn't need a beautiful picture of a sunset in their life from somewhere fabulous in the world.
Rosy : Thank you. They say that there's a sunrise and sunset every day and we shouldn't miss the opportunity to see them.
Sally: Oh, what a beautiful way to end our chat. Thank you so much once again.
Rosy : Thank you Sally. It's been a pleasure.
Sally: I love, love, love what Rosie's doing and what she stands for. I contacted her out of the blue to ask to come on the podcast and she didn't hesitate to say, yes, so I really appreciate it.
Now this Friday, the 4th of October, mark your diaries, it's my birthday and I'm telling you this for two reasons. Firstly thought, you might want to get me a present - champagne, you can't go wrong. And secondly, it gave me an idea for next week's podcast. I thought, let's talk about voice and age. How does aging affect your voice? Do you sound your age? Do you want to sound your age? I will find some answers to those questions and have them ready for you next Monday.
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