PilotsOfTheCaribbean: You're right, I don't moan on the flight deck. I think that my job is a great way to earn a living. To be honest, the crew food is a bit rubbish, and it certainly doesn't come as a series of separate courses (unless you count a bag of snacks and another one of sandwiches as two courses). However, (as best I can tell) I get on well with the crew; I try and make sure I've spoken to all of them individually before we reach the aircraft, so I know a bit about them and they know I'm friendly and approachable (if something happens in the flight I need to know about it!); I help them clean the aircraft on the turnaround if I get time, and certainly when we're getting off; we have a laugh together; and if everyone's still smiling when we get back to the crew room then I consider it a successful day.
My knickers are, I suppose, knotted by this as a safety issue. I now have quite a few friends who work at the airline in question, and it worries me that lessons that other less worthy airlines generally learnt about CRM over a decade ago seem not to have penetrated in some places there. Lack of CRM can kill people. I don't want to hear that it's my friends. Or anybody else's.