I have had the displeasure of flying with a Captain in the last year who I have to say was less than sociable, rude, abrupt, and in fact seemed to enjoy ramming the fact the HE IS THE CAPTAIN down my and indeed everyone elses throats showing us about as much respect as something you'd find under your toe nails.
NOW before you all jump on me as has happened in the past I must point out a few things.
I have no problem or grey area about who is in charge - the Captain IS in charge and ultimate responsibility does rest with everything on his shoulders. However there is a "way" to approach things and "hat on" all the time I think is not always the best way.
This was not an isolated incident. I am all for gving people a second chance and certainly have had "off days" myself so second time I had a flight with this person I was all for a clean sheet. To my dismay the same attitude prevailed including one particular petty thing about hurrrying the crew off the A/C (which if anyone knows we are normally on bus packed up ready to go before you can say epilettes!!) so he and the FO could return to JB house to get paperwork for next flight which if I am correct can be brought to the next A/C by a dispatcher anyway and this is in no way an unusual or out of the ordinary proceedure. Also without mentioning it other crews have encountered this attitude as well, so it's not just my "larger than life" personality making him feel a bit out of or not in control.
Finally my ex flew with him recently (she is an FO) and while saying that he was actually an ok guy and her opinion of him had actually improved over the course of the trip (incidently most FO's find him fine to fly with) she also concurred on his attitude to the crew , finding it embarressing, and shockingly to the point of CONTEMPT!!! He also enjoyed telling her about how he'd flexed his stripes at other crews establishing his authority and show what a big man he was.
My point is - is that there is a possibility this kind of attitude is dangerous and does not breed the kind of synergy and CRM atmosphere that is required for a safe harmonious flight. No one wants to look stupid by reporting something that is nothing to the pilots, but this kind of negative attitude does not help or aid this line of communication. It breeds the kind of "think twice" attitude that could waste valueable time in a serious situation or worse still let something go totally unreported.
For ALL reading this thread (and I hope the person in question) - if this is your attitude to your crews you fly with every day YOU NEED TO CHANGE it...NOW!! Before something serious happens and it's purely down to your pityfull attitude towards your crews. I for one now am not going to put up with it any more and intend to do something about this person should I encounter him and this attitude again. I do not want pee on anyones Bar-B-Q but in an industry where safety is paramount this is not the way to go.
Your crew are a resource that need to utilised and looked after just like the rest of your A/C. Treating them badly results in wear and tear and subsequently possible system failure which can mean disaster in a worse case scenario.
Of course I'll start with a some "developmental feedback" first on a one-to-one basis first as I hope all people would before resorting to paperwork and putting blotches on peoples records, and I hope that he is a big enough person to take it on the chin.
Sorry peeps just had to vent my anger somewhere
on this subject as it doesn't take much to be nice in this world and I find it a real effort to be horrible. Plus if this helps one person to look at themselves for a minute and see that maybe they could be just a little bit nicer to their crew and get so much more back in return as well as a safer opperation, then all this typing has been worth it.
