I am going to get flamed for this, but I can't sit still for it any longer. I'm not a commercial pilot, but I am a human being.
Comments such as 'ground staff addressing the Cpt as "matey"or "boss" (teenagers without a gcse between them) and, 'stroppy/arragont/chip on their shoulders F.O.s (yes f.o.s not cpt!), lead me to think we do have a problem here, and it is not one of a lack of respect, but one of arrogance. Is this really about CRM gone mad, or is it more about ego? Is it more "How dare these people talk to me without using my title!" Than it is about how competent and conscientious they are at doing their jobs?
Juan Trip of Pan Am gave the pilots of his Clippers, the 'honorary ' title of Captain, primarily because they flew flying boats. He dressed them in dark blue, and gave them gold stripes to impress his passengers. It did not change anything, they were still pilots in command of an aircraft, just as thousands of other mere pilots were at the same time. Soon all the other airlines jumped on the bandwagon and followed suit. Today anyone who commands a commercial aircraft is called Captain, never the less it remains an honorific title, and to insist upon it seems a little crass.
Commercial pilots do a wonderful job, but in truth, pilots are not irreplaceable, nor are their skills rare or unique. Almost anyone with reasonable intelligence, the desire, and good hand/,eye coordination could do what they do. Especially given the long and expensive training they are given. If you have young F.O,s with 250 hours of flight time capable of safely flying a commercial jet airliner, and they must be, or they would not be there, then what is so skillful about what you do, that requires everyone in that aircraft to call you Captain? You have been selected by your employer to command an aircraft, you do not hold the Queens commission. To insist upon being addressed as Captain speaks more to your state of mind than to anyone else's.
One has to ask the question, when are you a Captain, and when are you not? Does it have to be a commercial aircraft? Does it have to require more than one pilot? For example, when John Travolta fly's his 707, is he entitled to be called Captain, even though it is a privately owned and operated aircraft? If the very same aircraft were carrying the very same number of passengers on a commercial flight, there would be no question in your mind, but is there a difference? Is a pilot in command of a Lear jet that only requires one pilot a Captain if he is paid to do it, and a mere pilot if he is not? Can you only be a Captain if you work for an airline? In your aircraft both pilots are there to do a job, you have been given the responsibility of command, not the 'right' to be addressed as someone holding the Queens commission.
Frankly, I believe we could do with much less of this kind of elitist B/S, and a bit more growing up.
Now I'm for it!
W.B.