Do pilots have a boss?

sdflyboy

New Member
I realize everybody has a boss, and pilots are no different, but in reality, do they have a boss when they are at work? That to me would be one of the most appealing things, just go to work, do your job, and go home. No boss looking over your shoulder all the time. Perhaps some of you working pilots can futher explain how it works when it comes to what contact you have with a superior on a daily basis?
 
I would say the Cheif Pilot would be your boss, but as you point out if you go to work do your job, you will not have to interact with your boss on a day to day basis.
 
As I hear it, you keep your job if you never have to see your boss.
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I would also say that it really depends on the kind of flying you do. My instructor is the chief pilot for a surveying firm on the field, which is his full time job. He's in charge of most of the flying, as well as keeping up with the mechanics of the planes. And since this is all privately owned by one guy, you better believe his boss (the one guy) has some daily input. He even gets my CFI to fly him on trips and stuff. Having said that, I think my CFI has one of the coolest flying jobs (a lot of multi engine, stick and rudder flying, plus CAP, AAHF, and CFIing on the side) I could think of and is generally a 9-5 (sometimes 9-9) guy.
 
I'd say I have 3 bosses...
The chief pilot and his Assitant....
Plus It seems Dispatch likes to be the boss of me.

As far as traffic in the boss offices....We say here that if it's not to talk about football, you should probably worry !
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[ QUOTE ]
If you are an airline pilot... you can consider the Captain your boss too.

[/ QUOTE ]

oops...forgot that one....
 
Gosh darn it I was wrong again!


I looked at the list of topics, saw "Do pilots have a boss?", and then I see that Kristie has the last post. I sez to myself "I know what that post says, I'll betcha."

Dang.

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"Airline Food Chain" (for a typical regional)

Company CEO
Company President
VP of Operations
Director of Operations (FAA required position)
Director of Flight Ops
Chief Pilot (FAA required position)
Asst. Chief Pilot (also Regional Chief Pilot)
Captain
First Officer
Lead Flight Attendant (Purser at some airlines, notably AA)
Flight Attendant

Side Lobes who think they can tell pilots what to do:
Dispatchers
Crew Schedulers
Training
Gate Agents
Ramp Agents
Mechanics
Fuelers
Caterers
Passengers

A note on dispatchers. The Dispatcher/Captain relationship is briefly described as a partnership in the regs. Most dispatchers realize this and work with the captains on dispatching flights. Every once in a while you run into a dispatcher who thinks he/she is the captain until the flight leaves the ground (and some even after that!) A good captain/dispatcher team will cooperate on all items, including in flight re-routes. It must be remembered by both, however, that the captain has final authority once the flight in airborne.

I only pulled the authority card once. An AirMidwest dispatcher was trying to make me divert from Tallahassee to Daytona Beach. The dispatcher was fairly new and did not know how far away that is. (about 1:30) Panama City is a half hour flight and only a 1 hr ground trans away. PFN is a base and DAB is not (no ground crew!) I finally overrode the dispatchers direction and diverted to PFN.

I talked to the Chief Pilot later and he backed me up, quoting regs about responsibility and authority of the Pilot in Command. The dispatcher was kind of surprised that he wasn't in charge, but was ok about it after that. We got along fine on all future flights.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Gosh darn it I was wrong again!


I looked at the list of topics, saw "Do pilots have a boss?", and then I see that Kristie has the last post. I sez to myself "I know what that post says, I'll betcha."

Dang.

grin.gif


[/ QUOTE ]no, i'm not the boss of doug and i don't call myself the boss... but i do know that i wear the pants in the house and that's ALL that matters!

BWWAHHHHHAHAHAHAHA... *Mr. Evil laff*
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..
..
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I crack myself up!
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Crap, now I have this visual of Doug wandering around the house without any pants.


Not good.


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[ QUOTE ]
Crap, now I have this visual of Doug wandering around the house without any pants.


Not good.


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[/ QUOTE ]ok.. ummm.. let me rephrase so you can get that visual out of your head...

"wear the pants"

better??? haha
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Hey, if Doug wants to wander around the house in his boxers, who are we to complain? It's his house, he can do what he wants!

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[ QUOTE ]
Hey, if Doug wants to wander around the house in his boxers, who are we to complain? It's his house, he can do what he wants!

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[/ QUOTE ]
He can wander around without the boxers for all I care. It's the visualization in my head that gives me fits.


Guess that's a personal problem....
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[ QUOTE ]
Boxers are also pants.

[/ QUOTE ] I guess not with my definition.. pants are something that goes all the way down to mid-calf or the ankle. Boxers are kinda like shorts and their normally worn under "pants"... hahaha
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/back on topic
 
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