Stroppy First Officers - CRM issue
Sometimes I have to fly with one particular First Officer whose attitude borders on insubordination to say the least. He is constantly trying to take charge of the operation and seems to delight in making "put downs" which if I had made when I was an FO years ago would have resulted in the Commander reading the riot act. I have enough experience to be able to let this all flow over me but it's not a very pleasant experience and I am concerned that if he acts like this with other commanders who are less experienced there might be a flight safety issue.
This FO has other business interests (I hasten to add I have no objection to this so long as it does not interfere with his role). As soon as we reached top of climb he announced to me "If you don't mind I have some work to do" and pulled out his laptop and proceeded to write what appeared to be a report.
I think I am a pretty reasonable guy to fly with and like to have a good atmosphere on the flight deck. On the (rare) occasions where, for example, I recently stated to this FO when on base leg being radar vectored that really the max speed was 180 kt he said, in a belligerent tone, "give me a chance!".
Whenever I fly with this individual I feel that he is trying to rush me. When he tried to do this during preflight checks I did say "please don't rush me!". Later when we had finalised the fuel figure I asked him to go out to the refueller to pass same. He then said "Don't rush me!". I manage to suppress my anger and advised him that this was an order!
He has also advised me that on a recent sim check the trainer pointed out that his CRM was poor but that he did not agree with this assessment! (I have to say that I think the trainer was correct).
He does have good handling skills and a good knowledge of the company SOPs etc. But his manner is quite abrasive and sometimes off putting. I have thought of having words with my manager but I suspect that this would be to little effect.
So I make this posting here for advice and comment.