RTO call...
Hi everyone...
My company is fairly young, "only" a little over 10 years in age, but we never had a discussion about RTO's and FO's. We don't even allow FO's to Taxi...
In both Wide body and Narrow body fleets that we operate it is the same policy, the only person to make the decision is the Left Seat Captain. When two Capts fly together, the Operations Manager through the Dispatcher/ Crew Scheduler decides who is in command, normally by seniority, not by age or flight experience. The other Captain may not be Pilot Handling/Flying from the right seat.
Due to expansion the last few months we have hired so many new pilots, and the standard is shot. We have everything ranging from Astronauts to Bush Pilots, Captains who have 200hrs in command and FO's with 18000 hours total time, with ICAO English Levels going from Level 6 down to Level 2. I just upgraded to the Left Seat after flying almost 8 and a half years as an FO and I need to tell some of you that there are some moments were I would not even give the FO the Microphone if I did not have to, it gets THAT bad... Most companies, especially contract firms, have very little or almost no more psychological screenings, recommendations are not required anymore to enter my company either. It is very difficult to see what FO will be able to perform correctly in a situation like and RTO and who will not, so I, as much I hate to admit, I support the policy in my company that it is the Captain only who makes the decision to reject or to go even if the Person on the right seat has a lot more Flight or Command time than I might have.
We follow the following Procedure: On Ground, Left Seat is Pilot Handling, ALWAYS! On Take off, if it is the FO's Leg, he gains controls AFTER the thrust is set by the Captain and after the call "you have control", NOT earlier. Max. Performance, Low visibility and Max. Weight Take-offs are Captain ONLY. On Landing the FO relinquishes controls by reaching 60 Knots and WILL NOT stow Reverse thrust to more than Reverse Idle.
Local laws almost always dictate that the Captain is ultimately responsible for what goes on on board of the aircraft and he/she will be going to jail for it...
It's a pity how SwissAir thought that the FO doesn't take off, because tomorrow he/she is Captain and the ADM that is developed over years of practice is what makes good Captain in the future who will make good decisions when bad times come...
Anyways, happy Landings everyone...