Londoners thinking about becoming pilots might want to think twice, as it has been revealed that the Cockney accent makes airline passengers uneasy.
Research by the Business Travel Show has found that more than a third of passengers feel uncomfortable when they hear a Cockney accent over the Tannoy.
When it comes to reassurance, it seems that most passengers favour the Queen’s English in a pilot, with 42 per cent of travellers feeling most comfortable with a Home Counties accent.
But it wasn’t just the soft tones of the Home Counties that passengers felt comfortable with. More than a quarter of passengers said they felt most reassured by a Scottish pilot in the cockpit.
In third place were the dulcet tones of the Irish, followed by the friendly Geordie twang in the fourth spot.
It is bad news for Cockneys, as the accent topped the list of the least reassuring accents – closely followed by Brummies in second place.
It is a result that has surprised some people, not least those in the travel industry. One of those was David Chapple, event director of the Business Travel Show.
He said: “We all love a Cockney accent on Eastenders and thousands of Londoners trust Cockney cabbies with their lives every day, so isn’t it crazy how some people would feel unsafe if a pilot had a Cockney accent?
“Clearly, in the cold light of day, our pilots’ accents make no difference at all, or regional airlines like Flybe wouldn’t exist.”
Passengers were also asked to choose which celebrity voices they would most like pilots to have on their flights, with people opting for a mix of English, Scottish and American.
Topping the list was the well-spoken Nigel Havers, followed by former Bond Sean Connery and Oxbridge-educated Stephen Fry.
Popular routes to London Include:
Manchester to London
Edinburgh to London
Birmingham to London
