But perhaps (in a roundabout kind of way) 411A has ( or at least tries to make ) a valid point, i.e. it's all very well being 'civil, nice and egalitarian', but sometimes 'civil, nice and egalitarian' is not what's needed.
E.g. Just imagine Boot Camp and a RSM to a trooper on some point of who's in charge ( and why )....
"Now look here my good man, would you please remember that whilst we do try to be nice and chummy and all that, but, well, it's me who ultimately carries-the-can, so do please try to bear that in mind in your deliberations"
Where at the other end of the scale is........
"You 'orrible little man, just who the bloody hell do you think you are ?!!!"
Perchance to jest,........ where of course somewhere in between there's hopefully a happy middle ground for all occasions, and especially so to be hoped-for in the tight confines of an airliner and it's team therein.
But let's not also forget that sometimes a COMMANDER (hence the title) has to make decisions which might prove unpopular with the troops (read, 'team'), and hence to then suffer perhaps "the loneliness of command !"
E.g. W.r.t. to 'Aircraft Commanders discretion to extend a flying duty period' as written in many a JAR Ops Manual (section 7) it often states: "Aircraft commanders may, at
their discretion, and after
taking note of the circumstances of the other members of the crew, extend a FDP beyond that permitted in paragraph..... blah blah blah " - i.e. theoretically the decision to extend a FDP has got nothing to do with the Cabin crew team ( but you'd be amazed how many CabinCrew think that they can hold the operation to ransom about that ).
Or how about, "Commanders are authorised to exercise their discretion in the following circumstances, ....... blah blah blah " where your average FltOps Manual is
liberally littered with such phrases - but it doesn't say anywhere that the Purser, CSD, or CC are able to exercise such privileges.
Of course some of history's best commanders have been aloof from their troops, yet still much admired and invoked much followership, and vice versa (and vice versa) - it takes all sorts
- and if by any other yard-stick, aircraft commanders get paid a reasonable salary as a sort of a measure of their experience, level headedness, decision making skills, and responsibility required that comes with their job.
That said, and rather unfortunately ( imho ), many cabin crew are not aware of the level of knowledge, skill, and experience of the person in the LHS - coz all they mostly see is a couple of boring old sods sitting up front for hours on end, expecting tea and food on a regular basis, and apparently not doing too much at all except to watch the AutoPilot do its stuff (yet earning a stack more dosh) - but not for them the biannual sim checks and medicals upon which the license and livelihood depends that you pass !
Indeed it made me chuckle the other day when the AP on my aircraft slightly lost the plot during a descending turn (changes from VNAV SPEED, to LVL CHG, to V/S) and induced about 7 seconds-worth of light G-force; I was earwigging the 'Cabin Interphone' (as you do) which then burst into life between front and rear galleys as to what the hell was going on ( talk about sh!te' themselves over a modicum of G -force - whereas I actually quite enjoyed it, as it reminded me that I was flying) where I then jumped in and said that it was all ok, which it was - and yet some here would purport that I'm supposed to feel confident that the team members behind me are always knowledgeable enough aviation professionals as to be able to initiate an evacuation based solely on what they are experiencing, rather than the coordinated information that's coming into the cockpit via Cabin Interphone, Instrument Readings, RT from Tower and FireBrigade, 'the bigger picture', etc..... ?!
So, very much in concurrence with what has been said above, ideally the CabinCrew should inform the FlightDeck of what they see, so that all the information can be assimilated such that a coordinated decision can be made (ultimately by the Commander) as to what is the best course of action to follow (i.e. to get out or not).
Of course if the situation is 'Catastrophic' (define) then the CabinCrew are very much on their own.
Ps - (hence the Edit - actually for a typo, but also for an addendum) I'd just like to add that many is the time when I go to work and think "
Wow - what a top team !" and that when we all blast off into the atmosphere we go with TOTAL confidence in one another, in that each knows their part in the play and yet that they can assume other roles if need be - but there again, just occassionally it's not the A team that's onboard (when viewed from any angle)
and it's then that
all aboard need to pay particular adherence to the script (read, SOP).