Caulfield - I should not worry too much about Ryanair or easyJet offering you a job as it is not going to happen any time soon. Regarding Political Correctness, I cannot speak for Ryanair, but easyJet employs pilots from every background known to man and employs numerous non-PC pilots. In the overwhelming majority of cases, they all get along just great. Regarding adherence to SOPs, yes that is one of our failings - we like pilots to adhere to them. And yes, we actively would not employ pilots for whom that is an issue. Strange, but there you have it.
Regarding the case in point, my understanding is that the FO was a late-arrival career FO who never flew in the RAF. All this stuff about employing ex-mil pilots is completely irrelevant here as he wasn't one. The Captain was faced with a nightmare FO, and I have considerable sympathy for him. There is no doubt he could have handled the situation better, but in his defence it was not an easy one to deal well with.
Slightly bizarrely, I notice that the two pilots involved are now fighting FlyBe TOGETHER in their battle against unfair dismissal - CRM appears to have prevailed after all!
Last edited by Alexander de Meerkat; 21st April 2012 at 23:46.
Reason: typo