Good points. And chances are, if you put a subservient (as you put it) f/a
into a role-play, after which s/he had the opportunity to critique his/her
performance, this would likely lead to a much different performace if and
when a critical situation occurred in real life.
Also, by giving a very strong captain (or any other pilot), the chance to
perform the f/a role, and face a cabin full of anxious pax with little or no
real info about the status of the a/c, chances are good that s/he would come
away with an expanded awareness of the ENTIRE situation, and not just the view
from his/her seat. THis is important if we accept the stadard view that the
captain is the leader of the WHOLE team--incl. the cabin crew, etc, That is
the great benefit of role playing; if nothing else, it allows one to "walk in
another's shoes" at least to some extent, certainly to a greater extent than
they previously had, and that can open the door to greater dialogue.
Pam Munro