F/O flying on pax legs

[Paradoxus]

I recently learned of a rather disturbing, highly unprofessional policy in place at my company (a large, on demand cargo/pax operator). F/O's flying passenger trips are simply not allowed to fly when pax are on board. In addition to learning this terrible truth about this place, I have discoved that the practice is commonplace with other operators. Not only is this subtle accusation of incompetance profoundly insulting, it shows an extreme lack of confidence in both a company's employee resources AND training practices.

 

[Rogue5]

Is it that the aircraft you are flying are single-pilot certified? In some cases if F.O.s are not typed then letting them fly wouldn't even be legal.

If thats not the case, go and get hired at any of the many regional 121 operators that are hiring now. You'll get all the legs you'd like and then some...

 

[Paradoxus]

These are 20-series lears and falcons. Why you would suggest taking a backwards-step career wise to escape an absurdity that can be corrected by flight crews from inside of the business is almost as bizzare as the practice itself.

To further clarify the matter, understand that I am not on the pax side of the company, and therefore remained unaware of this practice while flying cargo the past year.

 

[English]

I've heard of this before. At my first 135 job, when I was an SIC, I wasn't allowed to fly when passengers were on board. It wasn't for several months that I was allowed to fly even the owner. I think it had to do with the insecurity of my captain more than anything else.

My FO where I fly now flies every empty leg, and we share the occupied legs. So, he flies more than I do. Our (unwritten) policy at our company seems to be to give the FOs as much experience as they can handle safely and comfortably for the passengers. How else are they going to be a captain in training?

 

[Paradoxus]

Agreed, English. My biggest complaint about this nonsense is not the policy itself, its the high level of tolerance the flight crews exhibit with reguard to such policies. Their complacency is little more than a case of mass-ignorance about the standards of professionalism within our industry. A 100 hour period for new F/O's before they take the controls with pax on board would be more than a reasonable alternative.

My first 135 job was flying pax on-demand in the Bahamas--the "finesse" required to fly passengers to their level of satisfaction wasn't brain surgery.

 

[Captain4242]

Truthfully, I, as a Captain, never understood this policy. Even as a FO, it botherd me, but I never bitched about it. Luckily, I had good Captains who gave me every empty leg; I learned a lot from those experiences.
I treat it like any other rule: Follow it, but as PIC I am allowd to break it in the interest of safety.

 

[Snakum]

The more I read this kind of stuff, the more thankful I am that I work (part-time) with the best corporate Captains in the business. Sometimes I think I am the luckiest wannabe who ever lived.

Capt - "The weather's fine ... no Nervous Nellies in the back ... wanna fly all the legs today?"
Me - "Always, Boss."
Capt - "It's yours ... don't screw it up ... I'll jump in when (not if) you get overloaded!"
Me - "Thanks Captian!"
Capt. - "You work the radios on this one too, and we'll talk about Balanced Field Length and V1 speed. And when we get to the FBO this afternoon, we'll have a quiz on the turbine engine theory we discussed last week."



Minh
Luckiest Pilot Wannabe In the World
(OK ... second to Alex/Citation Kid who does this in jets. )

 

[Capt1124]

I recently learned of a rather disturbing, highly unprofessional policy in place at my company (a large, on demand cargo/pax operator). F/O's flying passenger trips are simply not allowed to fly when pax are on board. In addition to learning this terrible truth about this place, I have discoved that the practice is commonplace with other operators. Not only is this subtle accusation of incompetance profoundly insulting, it shows an extreme lack of confidence in both a company's employee resources AND training practices.

First of all, I understand the postion you're in. I usually fly with low time FOs and I try to give them as much experience as I can within the constraints of the operation. The constraints of the operation are guests in the back of the plane and my need to keep current. I do this because I started flying jets with very low time and people were very patient with me and helped me out. The last job I had as a 135 FO I *never* flew with passengers on board and often not when the plane was empty. The Catch 22 situation of never getting to fly the having to fly great when you get the rare chance is a real negative one to put people it.

Hwever, the anger you're expressing about the situation is really counter productive, especially if anybody notices. You can go back to flying cargo at the company you're at now, or get another job, or be patient, go with the flow, and wait for your chance.

Or, you can get on with a regional. Flying a regional jet is *not* a step backwards from flying a 20 series Lear or a Falcon 20, and is probably a better long term career move. This is especially true for somebody who seems to like to rock the boat.

 

[CapnVegetto]

Our company does the same thing. We're charter, and on pax legs, F/O's are not allowed to fly. However, I can see why this is, because we generally hire pretty new low-time F/O's (about with the qualifications new regional airline FO's have), and most of the time, none of them have ever even seen a jet. FO's fly all empty legs, (at the discretion of the captain), and from the left seat. (We're in Citations). I see the reason for this policy, (at least at first), because almost every newbie may be able to fly, but they can't fly smooth. They also have the tendency to get waaaaay behind the airplane (yes, even in a Citation), and that is simply a product of never being in a jet before. I know I was that way when I first started, and I learned a LOT simply from watching experienced captains fly. Corporate is a lot different from airlines. If you have a new FO flying the plane, and slam some rich guy all over the place, guess what, he's taking his money elsewhere. In the airlines, you go up front, slam the door, and if you give the pax a rough ride, what're they going to do? Nothing. Once the FO proves that they can fly the airplane smoothly and stay ahead of it, then they can fly pax legs. You get a guy with previous jet time, they're good to go almost right off the bat.....it's just learning the nuances of a new airplane. Stick a guy in there straight out of a 172, and chances are he'll be so far behind the airplane he'll have to rent a car and drive to our destination after we get there.

On my flights, the FO gets all empty legs in the left seat if he wants 'em, with a few exceptions. Examples would be putting a brand new guy in bad weather, or making someone land on a short narrow runway when I'd never seen them do it before. Usually, after someone gets some time, and they're flying, we'll be going home to our 8000 foot runway, and I'll say something like, 'OK, pretend like this runway is 75 feet wide and 3800 feet long. That's all you've got.', or 'OK, your autopilot and flight director just died, and you have to shoot an ILS down to mins.' If they handle it with no problem, then I know that I can let them go into a short runway in the left seat, or fly in bad weather to an unfamiliar airport.

 

[Paradoxus]

I'm no boat-rocker, and frankly I see no short/long-term benefit to flying for a regional airline as an F/O for 5+ years.

I'm not entirely sure I made this clear, but I do not fly on the pax side of the company. This sad situation was brought to my attention en passe by someone on the cargo side who had been pulled for those trips before.