Ask the Captain: Personality problems in the cockpit?

Question: What do pilots do throughout the main part of the flight when autopilot is on? Do they make small talk with the other pilot? Is that sometimes awkward if their personalities don't mesh well?          

-- Submitted by reader Chaim

Answer: There are ongoing duties throughout the flight, such as navigation updates and radio calls from and to air traffic control.

Pilots are professionals, and adjusting to different personalities is a part of the job. If the personalities don’t mesh well, then the professionalism or the crewmembers keeps the conversation to business.  If there is a layover at a city, each can go their own way.

My experience is that personality problems within a crew are rare.

Q: Do you get a choice to pick your co-pilot? Can you refuse to fly with one you find undesirable?

-- Mike M., Canton, Mich.

A: At a large airline, usually not. Occasionally a captain and first officer will bid for the same set of flights because they enjoy flying together. Usually the scheduling system assigns a crew based on the bids of each pilot.

Smaller airlines or corporate flight operations are more likely to have a crew paired up out of choice.

Any pilot can refuse to fly with a pilot they believe is incapable of performing their duties.  They will be asked to justify their decision.

Q: What determines if there are two or three people in the cockpit?

-- Richard, Charlotte, N.C.

A: The certification of the airplane determines if two or three pilots are required. Older airplanes had systems that required significant manual control (electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic). More modern airplanes were able to automate the systems, allowing the elimination of the flight engineer (the third pilot).

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John Cox is a retired airline captain with US Airways and runs his own aviation safety consulting company, Safety Operating Systems.