Agree with basil 150%.
Follow SOP's; Your SOP's have not been lightly adopted. They have been derived firstly from the airplane manufacturer and then "refined" after very careful consideration by your employer.
Airbus or Boeing procedures are profoundly safe. They may not be the best, but you can guarantee that any airline that has changed them from standard, has indeed considered the reasons for doing so and also the legal consequences of doing so. You are therefore safe, in liability terms, if you follow your SOP's. (Tudor might wish to confirm or deny that assertion?)
No airline and no pilot can accept a variance from the understood and accepted principles of how you operate their airplanes. That is why we have SOP's. We expect that on a dark and dirty night, when the sh1t hits the fan, the other pilot, whether he be Capt or F/O, will perform exactly as we expect him to do so.
If you cannot accept this fundamental principle, but reserve the right to apply your own personality or imprint on the situation, then go start your own airline, but please don't happen to be a Captain OR f/O on any flight I happen to be on.
Is not that the essence of CRM?
and, as Clothy says, after having fullfilled all of your obligations, then it is time to go down the pub! I\'ll agree with him on that point.
To say \'bs\' before you have extinguished your resonsibilities is Heresay, as he well knows. I\'m sure Clothy is a professional, but his anger regarding his employment issues colours his judgement in what you see here. I\'m sure he is a very reliable and safe pair of hands. A professional!