Difficult Captains

[Typhoon1244]

No, it's not the name of a Seattle grunge band...

I was talking with some of my fellow pilots about captains we'd flown with or had heard of who were difficult to get along with...demanding, arrogant, paranoid, etc. The one story that really amazed me was of a first officer and flight attendant who became so disgusted with the way their captain was treating them that they walked off the flight. Went straight to the chief pilot's office and said "we're not flying with that jackass."

That's a pretty bold move. Has anybody else heard of--or been in--situations like that? I don't know if I'd have had the nerve as an F/O to tell any captain to take a flying leap no matter how much of a jerk he or she was.

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

funnaaay, I was gonna ask the same thing

seeing that the pilot community is not as uniform in opinion regarding religion, politics, etc. as I thought, I was wondering what happens when routine conversations turn sour

 

[Ty Webb]

Although I haven't had to do it, there are certainly times at my airline where one pilot or both have gone to the CP's office and asked to be removed from a trip.

We each have our own personal "no-fly zone". There is one guy I would not be willing to fly another month with- not without having a serious sit-down first.

If a Captain is downright rude or abusive, I would confront him on it first- usually, those guys will back down amazingly quick- they are usually the weake sisters- and they have usually been warned already by the CP about it and don';t want to be called on the carpet again.

I have a friend who (with a Check Airman on the jumpseat) turned to a certain God-complexed Captain and said, in his best Noath Car-uh-linah drawl, "You're not one o' them @sshole captains I keep hearing about, are you?".

I've also heard of a Learjet crew that pulled up on the ramp, shut down, hopped out and started slugging it out on the ramp. Now, that's professionalism at its best!

As a great skipper once said to me, "Just wait until you upgrade- then you'll get to fly with your favorite captain every day".

 

[bart]

Rule # 1 Do not discuss politics or religion at work.

Rule # 2 Work with your subordinates so that they will do your job better than you ever did.

 

[Typhoon1244]

Do not discuss politics or religion at work.

Good advice, and I try...but this has nothing to do with religion or politics.

We're talking about a captain (for example) who writes-up every mathematical error his F/O makes and submits it to the C.P.'s office.

We're talking about a captain (for another example) who screams at his F/O for ten minutes--in front of passengers--for missing an item on a checklist.

That kind of thing.

 

[ATR-DRIVR]

If ANY captain yells or even raises his voice at ANY crewmember in front of ANYONE, is not fit to wear four stripes. They should not even be in the business.

 

[B6Busdriver]

If anyone screamed at me I would be off the trip so fast I would creat a vaccuum getting out the door. Seriously if a guy screams at you head to the CP office. That's BS plain and simple.

 

[jetexas]

We're talking about a captain (for another example) who screams at his F/O for ten minutes--in front of passengers--for missing an item on a checklist.

Totally unacceptable. If ANY FO runs into a captain like that....walk off the plane. Outstation? too bad. Call professional standards then call scheduling and tell them you are refusing to fly for safety reasons.

In my opinion, the arrogant, demeaning, overwhelming, know-it-all Captains are 'hiding something'. It may be that they are actually cowards, lacking confidence, poor pilots, wife beaters, whatever. Luckily, they are few and far between.

 

[banned username 2]

I've also heard of a Learjet crew that pulled up on the ramp, shut down, hopped out and started slugging it out on the ramp. Now, that's professionalism at its best!

Hahahaha... At least they waited until they got the plane to the ramp and shut down!

 

[Stifler's Mom]

I've also heard of a Learjet crew that pulled up on the ramp, shut down, hopped out and started slugging it out on the ramp. Now, that's professionalism at its best!

That is hilarious.

On similar note, I had a friend who said a Capt. yelled at him becasue he thought he was pushing on the yoke during an approach when he was pushing the PTT switch instead.

He ignored it, but then the Capt. laid into him again during the taxi in.

While they were waiting for the hotel van, the Capt. was smoking a cigarette, and my friend walked up behind and and whispered into his ear, "You ever fukcing yell at me again, I'll kick your ass. And nobody witnessed me saying this to you, so don't even bother going to the CP."

Never had a problem the rest of the trip.