Another dumb question

TheWife

New Member
So, when flying for an airline, is the capt always the one flying and the FO is backup? Or does the capt let the FO take over so he can get the experience? Or do they do shifts? Is it the same every time, by a procedure, or does it depend on the people?
 
Traditionally you trade off legs.

The captain usually takes the first leg and you work the radios, then the next leg you swap duties.

Usually since I'm a pretty seasons MD-88 pilot, the captain will usually ask if I was to "start" or "finish", which normally my honest answer is "I don't care!"

And no, not a dumb question whatsoever.
 
The technical answer is... that at the comencement of every flight, there is a coin toss. Unless otherwise specified, it's the FOs duty to make the toss, captain calls it in the air.

Hehehe....just kidding..

Usually there is a Flying Pilot and the non flying pilot. I'll let the pros elaborate on that one...At the charter job I have, the captain always flys the first leg.
 
Ah, thank you.

[ QUOTE ]
And no, not a dumb question whatsoever.

[/ QUOTE ] Well I guess I figure it's dumb cause it's not like I'll ever be an FO or Capt so what do I care right? LOL. I am just a curious gal though and when I wonder, I ask. Thanks.
smile.gif
 
Usually the captain will ask whether I want "ins or outs", which means do I want to land at MDW all day, or do I want to land at the outstations? All of our flights either depart or arrive at MDW, so we trade off legs that way. I'll always choose "ins" if they are using the circle to 22L because I LOVE that approach!

Sometimes we'll "switch at outstations." That means one person flies from MDW-MKE, then other person flies MKE-MDW, then flies from MDW-SBN, then we switch again. That way each person gets a landing at MDW and an outstation. Makes things a little more fun.
 
So with all the airlines, only the captain is logging pilot in command time? The FO always logs second in command time? Is that the way most airlines work?
 
[ QUOTE ]
So with all the airlines, only the captain is logging pilot in command time? The FO always logs second in command time? Is that the way most airlines work?

[/ QUOTE ]

The captain always logs PIC and the FO always logs SIC.

Unless, of course, the "co pilot" is a company line check airman performing flight duty -- I think.

When I play "Pilot Flying" and the captain "Pilot Not Flying", I am still only SIC.
 
Depends. I usually fly it up to about 18000 feet or so and then below 10000 in VFR conditions.

But if the weather is bad, I'll turn it on sooner and longer to reduce the workload of my non-flying pilot.
 
About the check pilot thing: They can only log PIC if their name is on the release. This was brought up in our new hire training.
 
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