[Tony G]

Is there a requirement for aircrew (The pilot kind) to make contact with the passengers at any stage of the flight or do they just do it out of courtesy?

Been on a couple of flights over the last month, one to Singapore and one just getting back from Japan. On the Singapore flights the captain gave us updates on weather, any delay expectations, time of arrival and any chance of turbulance. Basically kept us well informed.

On the Japan flights all we got was basically the Customer Service Manager(CSM) speech welcoming us onto jetstar and to enjoy our flight. Not a peep from the pilots on flights there and back. When we departed Japan the seat belt sign remained on for much longer than normal. Then we hit some turbulence, a few minutes later the CSM gets on the PA to warn us on the turbulence that has already occurred. Just as she got to the part of the captain leaving the seatbelt sign on for a while the seatbelt sign went out (communication breakdown maybe) and she just stopped her speech half way through. Later in the flight we hit some heavy turbulence again with no word from the pilots. Just a buzzer and a seatbelt light come on prior. You would think that it is the pilots responsibility for the safety of the passengers. With that responsibility you would think that the passengers will be well informed on flight details. During the heavy turbulence it had a few people worried , including me. I could hear people uttering words like Sh*t and children crying. Even during these conditions I would like the pilot would have made some sort of contact prior like how long they might expect it to last.

My point being whether or not the pilots are required to make contact with the passengers? It is disappointing from my perspective to just jump on an aircraft and get absolutely no information from take off to landing. Just delayed information from the CSM.