From A Pilot To A Captain: The Being Better Series

As with other professions, the normal progression for a pilot on the way to becoming a professional aviator means earning progressively higher and higher levels of certificates and ratings. The start of this long journey begins with your first medical certificate. On it, it says clearly, “Student Pilot.” You definitely know where you stand with this one in your pocket. Once you earn your private, you start on your instrument rating or commercial. Once you earn your commercial, you earn a multiengine rating. Then you build hours for your airline transport pilot (ATP) license. Then, once you earn your ATP, you think you’ve arrived.

Read the full article

The often thought but rarely spoken paradox about how most flight training is done at the professional level is that sometimes, but not always, the better qualified pilot is standing on the wrong side of the podium. While the pilot with the floor is better trained at delivering the lesson, he or she sometimes lacks the necessary relevant and recent experience needed to effectively teach. Note that I say sometimes and not always. As a student, I need to be prepared to learn.

Read the full article

The very nature of pilot licensing instills upon us the need to constantly become better at what we do. A brand-new private pilot wants to add multi-engine and instrument ratings, followed by a commercial license and, perhaps, an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) rating. We aren’t alone in this type of career stratification, but few professions have as many levels on the way from novice to professional. Before I got my ATP back in 1986, I could think of nothing loftier. Since then, I’ve noticed many ATPs jump off the quest for more and more knowledge and start to coast. They might still aspire to be better pilots, but the need to become better is no longer a priority. Lost on these goalless pilots is that in the quickly changing world of aviation, if you fail to move forward, you will fall behind.

Read the full article

When I was a fledgling Boeing 707 copilot, one of my first captains would ask me why I had done something wrong, and I would come up with an answer. He would say, “Well that’s a reason. It isn’t a good reason, but it is a reason.” That has obviously scarred me for life, but in a good way. We always have reasons for what we do. We just need to make sure they are good reasons.

Read the full article

There is no doubt that crew resource management (CRM), once known as cockpit resource management, has greatly improved the way we aircrews interact and has made aviation safer. Back in the days when aircrews consisted of the captain, the first officer, a flight engineer, a navigator, a radio operator and a host of others, the conduct of the crew was patterned off that of ocean liners. The very terms “captain” and “first officer” were coined by the founder and CEO of Pan American World Airways, Juan Trippe. In his view, his early flying boats were exactly like those regal ocean liners, and nobody would dare question the word of the captain. Even when the captain was making a mistake.

Read the full article

I think any professional endeavor requires the practitioner to seek outside criticism to further develop skills and to maintain already mastered skills. That is especially true among pilots, where feedback obvious to others escapes us as we are too busy to take note. This can be compounded if the critique is delivered poorly or taken personally.

Read the full article

Most of us captains have one thing in common: We think we are good captains and that our crews agree. Nine out of 10 benevolent dictators agree: “My people love me!” When the person in charge asks you for your opinion, your answer is probably preordained. “Yes captain, you are a good captain.”

Read the full article

Most of our training as captains comes from our time as crewmembers watching captains in action. The effectiveness of that training depends greatly on the effectiveness of the captains we observe. Ideally, we will serve an apprenticeship with both good and bad. If you learn only from good captains, you may assume your captaincies will be easy and you will be ill-prepared for the challenges to come. If you learn only from bad captains, you are at risk of what I call “the tormented become the tormentors” syndrome. The problem boils down to a question of authority. Some captains assume the authority bestowed by the rank of captain has no limits and is the answer to all disputes. Other captains believe in a pure democracy and that no decisions are above a crew vote. Clearly there is a balance needed.

Read the full article

In this “Being Better” series, we’ve looked at being better students, pilots, crewmembers and captains. Taken as a whole, you might say we have looked at a broad range of topics, but I think it goes much further than that. If you are truly a professional aviator, the line between your professional and personal life becomes blurred. And that, contrary to popular wisdom, is a good thing. If you want to become a better professional, you must become a better person first. And that will require some introspection.

Read the full article

The idea of “being better” requires a motivating force and for most of us it is an act of responsibility to ourselves, our families and our employers. It is said that a prime motivator for those of us who started in the military was that we didn’t want to let our buddies down in combat. I think life outside the military can also be a battle at times and it is our responsibility to be there for our “buddies.”

Read the full article