Trips with an irritating crew pairing

FL350

Well-Known Member
Short story: How do you deal with getting stuck with an irritating crew member on a multi day trip? Any suggestions on how to politely avoid the other pilot while away from the airport?

The details: I used to fly a part 135 gig, for about two years, that company went south and I started working for the owner of the jet part 91 for the last few months. Since there is less part 91 flying I also took on a job flying a Pilatus PC12 for a separate company when they had requests for two pilots part 135. And..Yes I am qualified to fly as PIC in the Pilatus.
Unfortunately the pay is quite low in the PC12, and the other pilot I fly with can be wearing on the nerves after extended amounts of time. While on overnights / multi day trips how would you stay away politely? Or should I just turn down flying those trips. After all it's a single pilot airplane.
 
You gotta either have the talk, or just avoid them and "do your own thing".

Honestly, I try to make it work but if someone is really being a pain, then just say you have pressing matters and meals are gonna be done on your own. It happens, people don't always mix.
 
If it's after work, that's your time. Make it work in the cockpit, check in the hotel, then get the shuttle to a place to eat and drink...
 
Been there done that. Professionalism in the cockpit is a must, first and foremost. If that talk is something that you can make happen outside the airplane, do it, but otherwise, there's plenty of excuses ranging from "my wife and I are having problems" to "I'm really busy in my side business" to get your own time away from him.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone!
I find it very important to keep the cockpit and everything flight related professional and safe. Working with him flying goes well, just after the flight is over I need to get away from the guy.
 
After a while it gets easy to say "you go have fun, I'll catch you later."

I'm very much an introvert. I enjoy being social, but I do find it pretty exhausting. At the end of a long day I need some time to relax. This doesn't necessarily involve slam clicking, but often it invokes exploring on my own. Or at least a significant break away from the exact same people I just spent my entire day with.

You can make up an excuse, but a lot of the time its just easier to say "nah, I'm just going to keep to myself this evening." As long as you're not a dingleberry during the work hours most people are cool with it. You'll get a lot of "are you sure?" but then you just say "yep, I'll let you know if I do anything cool though."
 
I was just about to post something. Stuck on a 6 day with a guy I don't really "fit" with. The problem is that we don't get per diem, only a company credit card that only the captain (me) has access to. We have to eat together, every meal.

Holy crap, that youtube video is exactly the problem! Crazy.
 
I'm currently flying with a flight attendant that seems to know and enjoy every single pet peeve of mine.

*slight bump*
DING
"It's bumpy, should I suspend service?"

Or this morning in JFK the escalator wasn't working. I was going to carry her bag down for her but then she yelled "EXCUSE ME! DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THERE IS AN ELEVATOR!?!?"

Then she rolled her stuff down the stairs. Professional.
 

Thank goodness I fly single pilot =)

Ha. Pretty much this in my experience with charter flying. I still miss my King Air captain days as it was nearly all single pilot and the few copilot that would join me occasionally were all pretty fun. If only I had been paid a little more...
 
@MikeOH58 those videos are so true! I always laugh at them, especially the "meeting with passengers" video.

Normally I am quite social, but this guy just gets on my nerves after extended periods of time. The tough part is he really likes to be around me. I'll just have to tell him I need some time to myself, catch you later.
 
This is going to sound corny but.... you have to be honest and say you'd rather be on your own. Otherwise you're forced to make up little white lies that you have to keep track of. Eventually he figures out you're just a liar, and you've become the jerk. "Hey how'd that happen?":oops:
 

Thank goodness I fly single pilot =)
Funny! Must be a Net Jets pilots....rental car, crew meal.... Most of the time for us its, 'what do you want to eat? Well there is nothing near the hotel or McDonalds which is as good as nothing around the hotel.'
 
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