Tha late Ernest Gann, who wrote several fine books such as the famous "Fate Is the Hunter" etc, claimed in this book that after WW2, some ex-military pilots had no interest in joining the airlines, and risk being a copilot for some crusty Captains and hoping for crumbs to fall their way, knowing that such Captains were hopping between Buffalo, Rochester, Newark, Cleveland etc while the copilot (who was lucky to fly more than a few landings, or legs, now and then...) was getting shot at over enemy territory or trying to avoid problems over the Burmese jungle or miss the Himalayas in terrible weather with ice on the wings, tail and props or engine inlets while managing complex engines: and no hot engine 8th and 13th stage bleed air to help keep it off.
Those Captains today who hog all of the 'spoke legs' for a whole month and are uncomfortable letting a fairly new FO (past first 100 hours etc with company ) fly an approach to minimums might be a bit greedy, or are probably not too sure about their own limitations and skills...or hold a personal grudge after a long corporate merger, having run up against the (ratio) seniority " [verde] ceiling" in their seat.
Nowadays, most don't worry about sharing credit or the "limelight" later, in the "eyes" of certain females on the crew. Many of the more brittle egos have already retired or will soon, following their glorious reign on the widebodies (" no-not Ft. Walton Beach, I live in Destin"). And the nice ones try to avoid discussing their salaries outside of pilot circles, other than with family or financial planners (CFPs) etc-but for some, such unnecessary modesty might reduce their potential for self-perceived exalted status among the peasants...(for some) the desired result of that rather crude, unrefined American tendency to let others know how much our net pay is...
Last edited by Ignition Override; 12th Nov 2002 at 05:09.