Back in April I shared details of the new American Airlines safety video. The airline held off releasing it because of the Covid-19 pandemic. I only posted an 18 second snippet to offer a taste, looking forward to the airline’s planned release.
Now, however, the video is playing temporarily on 70 aircraft so I’m happy to share it in full. JonNYC pointed out that the safety video was loaded and then pulled, but some aircraft will be flying with it for a few days. In fact on Monday a message went out to flight attendants explaining the situation with the new video.
Over a year ago, we filmed a new safety video featuring many of our colleagues, our new uniforms and our commitment to caring for people on life’s journey. While we intended to roll it out last spring, we pressed pause because of the pandemic and postponed the video’s release to December. While it may sound easy, loading a new safety video requires months of lead time. Given recent circumstances, we decided the right thing to do was to delay launching the video, again, this time until 2021. Based on the lead time required on certain IFE systems, you may see the new video on approximately 70 of our aircraft where we were unable to stop the new video from loading.
Our Tech Ops teams are working quickly to remove the new video from these aircraft as soon as possible and replace it with the current/old video. And in the new year, we’ll focus on continued safety efforts, including helping to transport vaccines as they become available. When the time is right, hopefully later in 2021, we’ll celebrate the new safety video. We wanted to give you a heads-up since the new safety video does not reflect changes we made in response to COVID-19 since it was filmed long before the pandemic began.
There will be coronavirus-related changes to the video when American debuts it formally, but here’s the version that was originally intended to be debuted in April:
While American Airlines has largely been using the slogan “caring for people on life’s journey,” and that phrase makes an appearance here (“it’s our honor to care for you on your journey”), this video ends with ‘we fly so you can soar’.
Two years ago Air New Zealand’s safety video “It’s Kiwi Safety” had a cast of 600. It’s not clear how many people appear in ‘Safety at Scale’ but the meaning here seems both suggestive of the number of cast in a couple of key scenes, using people to do things like form the American Airlines logo and a no smoking sign, and to suggest just how large what was in normal times the world’s largest airline.
This new video isn’t as chic as the last one. Still, it’s visually interesting. The new video features the airline’s new uniform. It doesn’t make a play at humor, though at the 2 minute mark a cabin crew member breaks formation slightly to wave at the camera.
I’m not sure there’s an improvement here compared to this video produced a decade ago. It’s a very normal airline safety video, though, and normal is what I think we’d all like more of right now.
Maybe they should have been wearing masks and socially distanced????
The new video lacks any personality, maybe boring is what they where going for.
American Airlines: Our cheap-thin seats will make you sore.
The blue office chairs in the American safety video always annoy me. They look nothing like the real cramped seats they put on their planes. (If only everyone had their own set of recliming arms.) I’d call that false advertising.
Those blue seats from the old video are back. Why don’t they use the actual seats that are installed on the planes? There’s always too much fluff in these videos…the worst is when you gotta listen thru the English and then the Spanish (I speak both) before your seatback screen becomes usable again.
I found this very sad. It’s an aspirational video, which I respect. But, it feels very out of touch with the true experience as a customer (brash crew, crammed on planes, operational delays)… speaking to what you always say… there is an unclear vision of who they want to be.
Yet, there is something nice seeing such a large, diverse workforce…. pre-pandemic of course.
Sad.
So I can see this on my next Oasis plane right?
I happened to like the old video. I thought it was well done. This one seems to be an update, and pretty much down to business, which I think a Safety Video should be. I’ve seen many Airline Safety Videos and many attempt to entertain you. That’s what the TV Shows and Movies are for. This is about as middle of the road as they get.
I would just redo the voice over 130,000 now 90,000 employees and install it. WAYYY better and more friendly than the FA stomping around in the current version, which is old and tired. This will only play on their widebodies and the few remaining (think it’s 100 or so) narrow bodies with IFE seatback screens any way so. . . .
Seats small, narrow and quite thin!!
Less legroom and smaller tray tables trying to work on as a frequent flyer.
Less comfort all around for the passengers to soar in….!?
This safety video is quite an improvement over older ones. It also is better understandable than most flight attendants onboard. I enjoy the interaction.., it makes it real.
A former station agent.
I hate to say this but most of the comments not very nice. The video is very good, better than the last one. And has better i
Visual information
You bitchy Americans crack me up. If you hate American so much why do you fly them? No wonder the US is sick and dying. Your sense of entitlement and privilege is fatal. I wonder what kind of quality service you deliver to your employers and customers. None of you are perfect, so it’s a fair guess that your service delivery is lacking in its own right. Get. Over yourselves you bunch of self absorbed yankee ninnies.
This AA safety video is so lame
Ugh, she pronounces “directed” with a long I. I can’t stand that.
I have read this article. it’s pretty informative. thankyou for sharing and adding knowledge.
Although I like this video better than the last…still not real. Space, sides and in front, not real. I, personally prefer REAL and not wishful thinking. That being said, SAFETY FIRST, so good job!
Love it. Nice and diverse in races and ages. People look happy and professional in the new uniform. Great boost to all the negativity I read in comments. This is a safety video not a soap opera to show all your traumas and frustrations. Well done and proud of AA
It’s a safety video not a simulation. I liked the current one, the FA keeps a nice tempo/beat.
Everyone else is just bunch of cry babies.
I am proud to know at least two people in this video – but yes it is still lame, like Tara stomping around looking like a bird. What would have been better:
Bring back the ORIGINAL start to the American Airlines safety video: “there are so many places to go in this world, and so many airlines that can take you there. SO we thank you
…” and go from there. I do like the new uniform look, but the video itself is VERY basic (like they used foodstamps to fund this since they can’t even pay for the new HDQs…and have a TON of debt from it).
As an American Airlines Flight Attendant for over 28yrs I can’t understand what most of you are complaining about with this new video as you don’t watch it anyway or if we have to do a demonstration in the aisle you don’t watch the Flight Attendant as well. But you expect us to serve you a Coke and to save your happy ass if the plane goes down!!! So stop complaining about a video that you don’t even watch!!!!
Kinda funny that they are even doing videos anymore considering most of their aircraft had their screens ripped out and are left with a hole.
The second video looks a bit boring. For comparison, LATAM Airlines in their new security video tried to promote Cusco and Cartagena. And although it’s rather long, over 5 mins, you can still watch to the end without being too bored.
I didn’t have any expectations concerning that title, but the more I was astonished. The author did a great job. I spent a few minutes reading and checking the facts. Everything is very clear and understandable. I like posts that fill in your knowledge gaps. This one is of the sort.