Not saying this to "stir" the pot.. a valid question I have....
I am an air traffic controller in Bahrain and a collegue took a flight OMAA to EGLL A332 not sure when. He was able to ride in the flight deck for a while... and made a few observations.
1. Not once did either of the pilots wear the headset, not even while shooting the approach at EGLL
2. When he entered the cockpit, one of the pilots was not there, the other was sitting facing sideways with food trays all over the consoles and had newspapers covering all the windows. He said.. it's blocks the sun out.
Now as a controller, I would like to think that if I need to contact an aircraft quickly I would have an attentive crew on the other end.
As a traveller, I would hope to have 2 professionals in the front paying attention.
Please tell me this is not standard practise? Tell me this doesn't happen ...