I HAVE NOT DONE A LOT of international traveling.
Most of my time waiting for international flights have been in three or four airports: MIA, JFK, TLV, and DTW. That’s not to claim those are the only international airports in which I have sat and waited, but the ones in which I’ve spent the most time.
At MIA, the Public Address (PA) languages are Spanish, English, and Haitian (Creole).
At JFK, the languages are Spanish, English, and French.
At TLV, the languages are Hebrew and English.
At DTW — ahh, here’s a difference.
At DTW the languages are multiple Oriental languages, English, and French.
While I don’t understand most of the languages spoken at DTW, I think it deserves a Gold Star for catering to its clientele.
I rarely spend much time at JFK; I’m not fond of it.
When I’m rushing through MAD from a 787 jetway to a regional 737 jetway — for me it seems a mile or more — I don’t hear very much at all.
At CDG, if it’s not French, it isn’t spoken over the PA system.
The airport that prompts this rant is TLV.
TLV is not in Tel Aviv — it’s closer to Lod and that’s what its name was before the politicians got involved. (To me it still is Lod. In addition to the airport the town used to have a pretty good Indian restaurant.)
I was waiting for a flight to MIA via MAD in a gate area that was shared with several other airlines. I think Alitalia had dibs on the jetway before Iberia. The Alitalia personnel did not speak Italian ! (I checked.)
I’m listening to announcements for this flight and that.
All the announcements were in Hebrew (logical — it’s one of Israel’s official languages) and English (common, but not “official”).
There was an announcement — in Hebrew and English only — for LOT, the Polish airline.
There was not an announcement in Polish.
Given the number of Poles who played a major role in modern Israel’s development, it’s a bit surprising.
Wikipedia lists a two full columns of important Poles-in-Israel at https://tinyurl.com/ybymp3y2
I’m certain that a Polish-speaker could find someone in the airport who spoke Polish; in Israel every language is represented, at least in the major metro areas.
But it seems to me that someone at LOT headquarters in Poland would have someone, anyone at the airport whenever a LOT fight was arriving or departing to announce the flight in Polish.
The same applies to Alitalia for Italian, to Lufthansa for German, and so on.
The person could do double duty — make the announcement and work at the ticket/boarding pass area.
Both Hebrew and English have their nuances that may not be known to a person sans the language of a native speaker or even an advanced student of the language.
What applies to Lod/TLV also applies to any port that claims to be a true “international port.” (In the U.S. any airport with Customs is an international airport. PIE, a small airport with one arriving and one departing scheduled flight a day — the airport also has charter, cargo, government, and private flights — is an international airport; it has a Customs office.)
When flights are announced, I believe the announcement should be in the following order:
Local language
Language of the airline (if different)
Other languages spoken in the airport’s area; e.g., in Miami and announcement for El Al would be made, in order, in English, Hebrew, Spanish, and Creole. El Al should provide a person for the Hebrew language announcement (although there are enough Israeli ex-pats who could do the job).
Would British Airways need to announce in British English?
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