Originally Posted by
CAVU2
I find it strange that one would need to attend a course in order to learn to communicate effectively with the captain in an airliner (the MCC course), surely this is the sort of thing learnt through experience on the job...
CRM is a relatively modern concept. In the old days the Captain was treated as God, with the FO just a gear/flap monkey, and a lot of planes crashed because the captain got out of his depth and the FO didn't speak up. It's still like that in many Asian cultures. In the west CRM has saved a lot of lives, it needs to be taught and certainly can't be learned on the job - that's the literal opposite philosophy. Every airline has regular recurrent CRM training. The MCC as a course is required because flying an airliner is a team effort. Your first 200-odd hours are spent getting a single pilot licence (unless you've done an MPL) and learning to operate and make decisions collaboratively is vital. Some people can make great pilots but poor crew members.