PICUS is only really of use in the paperwork exercise of accumulating enough fudged P1 hours as an employed Co-pilot (who can normally only ever log P2) but needs x00hrs "P1" to gain his ATPL
The fudge is so blatant because some (UK only, I hasten to add) companies have an "arrangement" with the CAA that allows cojos to write every handling sector as PICUS, a grotesque misuse of a facility that is very useful correctly used.
The correct way to operate PICUS is long established. Cojo asks Capt at briefing time if he can operate PICUS. If Capt agrees the cojo takes on all P1 duties inc briefing and makes all the decisions that day regarding fuel, loading, weather, operational decisions without needing to be significantly over-ridden by the Capt. In fact, he is expected to act throughout as de-facto Captain - hence the name, Pilot in Command Under Supervision. The Capt, if happy with the P2's performance, then signs his logbook authorising the PICUS time. This concept can have no connection whatsoever with PF or PNF, who manipulates the controls is nothing to do with who makes the command decisions - the fundamental conceptual error in the common UK misuse of this procedure.
This devlops vital captaincy skills in copilots preparing them for their command course and exposes them to real decision making and responsibilities of all sorts and from many different (Captain's) points of view. It naturally develops discussion points during the shift which are a big part of learning the job.
The net result is of course a skill in the cojo previously called "A********p" which is now a swear word and never to be uttered in the environment of "modern" and especially lo-co airlines where the job is little more than an actor following a script verbatim and points of view or interpretations of events is considered dangerous and destabilising...
Thus the accumulated decades, if not centuries of wisdom and experience of the entire Captain's cadre is effectively denied to the copilots who instead are fed an unsullied, totally controlled company-developed diet of magenta lines and diktat from manuals and management alone.
Result? Cojos who often resent any input from their Captains as they believe themselves equally skilled as they know the manuals and mouth-music just as well if not better and tend to become automatic unthinking reactors rather than decision makers.
Progress it ain't.
Rant over!
Last edited by meleagertoo; 5th Jan 2019 at 12:30.