FC5419 - Professional Standards and Attitude
Initial Report
Not intended as a rant – we were all young once and knew and appreciated less than we know now.
But – not infrequently I am reporting for duty and find myself being presented with a flight deck colleague who pitches up and immediately expresses strong and assertive opinions on a variety of work-related issues at the point of introduction in the crew room prior to briefing. New and worse staff car park arrangements, poor rosters, lack of progress on pay and terms and conditions improvement promises, new staff security search arrangements, lack of visible activity and interest from the union on the daily grind of short haul issues etc.
And associated with this strong verbalisation can be a strong personal confidence that doesn’t quite match the level of flying experience. And doesn’t initially show the care, consideration, caution and collaboration required in the profession in general that you’d hope to feel a sense of in a pilot colleague that you’ve never worked with before.
I’m usually not in disagreement with the issues expressed, but the way in which a First Officer colleague in the profession pitches up and expresses these views at the point of introduction to a complete stranger, and sometimes having turned up late, isn’t the right way to start the working day as member of a close knit team whose focus should be the safe and efficient running of the day together.
It becomes a threat and a concern right at the start of the day. Is this colleague turning up to operate with the right frame of mind? Are they going to be able to fit into the team and play their role without distraction? Are they going to be a pain to work with if they are going to express strong opinions all day? Are they able to listen and process everything we have to brief on now and then execute through the day? Are they going to undermine the role of the captain? Do they really understand how the relationship works between the Captain and First Officer even in a shallow gradient environment? Do they understand that these strong “background” conversations can become a significant threat to their own ability to operate at work and can easily affect and distract those that they are working closely with. And notwithstanding the fact that it is bordering on rude and intimidating behaviour on occasions.
You wonder whether the right people are being recruited into the role. You wonder whether they appreciate that they have entered a profession where the demands placed upon them are more than just for performing any “job”. That they don’t realise that there is a lot to put up with in the airline environment, that you have to show resilience and flexibility and be in the right frame of mind to operate safely, that you sometimes have to pitch up early and frequently do work related things in your own time, and that you have a clear responsibility to your work colleagues and passengers who you will be with on the day. The company is putting a lot of information across relating to professional standards currently and the need to take care in the operating environment to avoid slip ups. But both it and the union don’t seem to quite appreciate the level of distraction current working environment issues are creating, and that sections of the pilot community aren’t able to park these issues at report. And don’t quite appreciate all the points about the professional behaviours required at work because they don’t quite seem to appreciate that they have joined a profession and none of this stuff applies to them.
It’s a joy when a calm and collected personable colleague pitches up for the day. And especially so if they’ve actually heard of Kegworth, Tenerife, etc and appreciate what risks are lurking out there. But it seems rarer these days? Maybe it’s just me out of touch.
comments
Airline Comment
This is a useful report, and if this had been made even a year ago, the airline would have had less material to respond with. However, on a positive front, there is currently a change programme underway, jointly sponsored by [airline] and [union], with a remit to address many of the issues that appear to be agitating some pilots, such as this reporter.
Whilst the initiatives [currently being discussed and referred to above] are aimed at addressing the root causes of the agitation, [airline] still expects our crew to be able to compartmentalise these types of issues when operating and think in the vast majority of cases this will be the case. However, that said, the reporter appears to have “been around for a while” and is, therefore, a good bellwether of changing attitudes, culture etc. and for that [the airline] wishes to thank them for the CHIRP report.
CHIRP Comment
This report resulted in some interesting and varied discussions and CHIRP was pleased to have obtained a response from the airline that confirmed that raising the issue with them, on behalf of the reporter, provided a useful input to the safety team. Societal norms and other cultural influences will bring up such issues particularly when there is such a wide experience/age gap and only by reporting internally, as well as to CHIRP, will the safety concerns that result be able to be addressed in a professional manner.