Every year the pilots get a few more tasks to complete between sign on and push back, every year it takes a fraction longer to get through security and to the aircraft, every year the pilots face gets a little more somber.
The same is true for the Engineers and the gate staff, the folk at the Operations desk and the refuellers and caterers. Every year there is slightly less time for a chat and a " how do you do" as the aircraft is signed over from Engineer to Pilot. Every year information flows less and less.
Peak human performance occurs with moderate external stress, we are beyond the apex of the curve and moving steadily down the other side. If we add another task to the duty ( " here....carry this telescoping mirror" " Sir where is your IPhone for the latch inspection? ...what do you mean you have an old Nokia?" ) without extending sign on times or allocating more staff to Engineering duties, we will push ourselves even further down the steep side of the performance/ stress curve.
The answer is sufficient numbers of well trained crew with enough time to do a professional job. Anything else is more of the same.
Last edited by framer; 1st Jun 2013 at 03:17.