View Full Version : "Captain" or not bothered
redout
16th Jul 2009, 21:23
Question for the captains. Do you prefer/require to be called "Captain" by your FO and cabin crew or do you not mind if they were to refer to you by your name. Also would you reprimand/give a polite warning to a person for not referring to you as "Captain".
'Oy.. Piky...Coffee or a cold one?' Will do!:)
Whats that question all about anyway?:suspect:
Bullethead
17th Jul 2009, 00:49
DGAF either way. :ok:
bfisk
17th Jul 2009, 01:26
I'm not a captain and I've certainly never met one that I referred to by anything other than his first name. :)
'Captain' will do for the cabin crew.
If my cabin crew don't like this, they will be warned, pronto.
Ignore, offloaded.
Company rule.
Other FD crew, first name will certainly do.
Intruder
17th Jul 2009, 02:33
In uniform and in public, "Captain" is appropriate. Among friends & colleagues, first name or nickname is fine.
I'm sorry 411A, I do have immense respect for everything you post here, but:
"'Captain' will do for the cabin crew. If my cabin crew don't like this, they will be warned, pronto. Ignore, offloaded."
Come on! These are the people we work with everyday, surely they could call you by your actual name (if they knew it).
Granted, I'm only an f/o, but I would tell anyone calling me First Officer to :mad: off anf just call me by my real name, we all know the ranks. If someone need to reminded of it it will happen, but there is no need to enforce this divide on everyone everyday at all times.
Otto Throttle
17th Jul 2009, 08:35
The first skipper that expects me to call them 'Captain' is likely to get a broken nose. :}
Now, when I'm the boss, if anyone is so bold as to even try eye contact with me, let alone have the temerity to speak to me, well.........:E
leewan
17th Jul 2009, 08:52
To the TS, just wondering did you get the idea for this thread from this event. :)
United flight diverts after captain and flight attendant argue (http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/07/16/329737/united-flight-diverts-after-captain-and-flight-attendant.html)
A really dumb reason to divert actually.
Come on! These are the people we work with everyday, surely they could call you by your actual name (if they knew it).
Negative, Dit, for the CC it is 'Captain' (while on duty).
Company requirement.
If, on the other hand, the CC don't like this arrangement, they are free to leave.
None have, so far as I know.
Respect begets respect.
For example, I call the Cabin Supervisor 'Chief' as that is the preferred term that the company desires.
We have all Jordanian nationals as CC, and they are the best I have worked with, bar none.
Granted, I'm only an f/o, but I would tell anyone calling me First Officer to :mad: off anf just call me by my real name, we all know the ranks.
Just so you feel better, Dit, our CC often call the First Officer 'captain', as some of 'em were, at one time.;)
Fair enough, if its company rules its company rules. I'd still prefer to be called by my name than my rank (or higher).
slowto280
17th Jul 2009, 10:25
Different cultures expect/require different methods of being addressed.
Just curious, who set up the 'requirement' to address the Captain only as Captain?
Makes it much easier I guess, no need to remember names. Some places in the world, everyone involved with the (an) airplane is addressed as 'Captain'.
parabellum
17th Jul 2009, 12:42
Just curious, who set up the 'requirement' to address the Captain only as Captain?
Please, tell us, where did you discover the 'requirement'?
This subject has been done to death and a search of the archives will reveal all. The bottom line is that some airlines and some cultures require it, others don't.
If you happen to have been lucky enough to have slept with one of the lovely young ladies the night before then, in all probability, if you were any good, she will call you 'Captain', and if you were really good she will call you, 'My Captain';)
mikehammer
17th Jul 2009, 13:46
I'm an FO. I would prefer to be called Captain. Just for the salary mainly.
MarkerInbound
17th Jul 2009, 17:57
Had a wrench I'd known for 15 years finally make the jump to F/E. When it was something to do with the plane as part of his duties, it was "Captain," when we were just planning what to do after landing it was first name. In 26 years, I think he was the only flight crewmember to call me Captain.
slowto280
17th Jul 2009, 20:27
Merely read the entire thread, or at least the last few posts if you are not too busy, and you will find where I 'discovered' the 'requirement'.
Yet another know-it-all who rushes to judgement. Nice cockpit.......... :D
All my crew call me by my first name as they do every other Captain in my Company, the dispatchers I know call me by my first name as do the engineers who know me.
The only time I insist on being called Captain is when I have a loverly little hostie in bed with me!!!
Flintstone
17th Jul 2009, 22:54
Any sentence beginning with 'Captain' or 'Mr' usually ends in trouble.
parabellum
18th Jul 2009, 00:04
Yet another know-it-all who rushes to judgement. Nice cockpit
Ever tried posting without the snide remarks at the end? Makes a post so much more effective, oh yes and have a good look around and see if you can find your sense of humour, you have obviously lost it.
slowto280
18th Jul 2009, 06:06
Feeling good this morning, good sleep..........
I too have a 'personal motto' similar to your 'tag'. Period. I must admit though, I had to look it up.
This is a generational, and cultural thing I find.
When I fly with "older" cabin crew, they will often call me Captain. On or off the aircraft. Some will call you by your first name when not flying. The younger crew always call you by your first name. Indeed that is how I introduce myself.
At London on the ground you tend to get called by your first name, but not always. If you don't know the guys name in the left seat, it is much easier for an engineer just to say "Yo Captain".
Once you go East to India and beyond. Everyone local will call you Captain. That is a cultural thing.
I don't care what people call me.
Respect does not come from being called "Captain". Respect is earned, and that is earned by how I operate and treat the people around me.
One Outsider
18th Jul 2009, 08:37
I prefer to be addressed as "1st Sea lord". However, the younger generations are allowed to address me as "Admiral".
Respect does not come from being called "Captain". Respect is earned, and that is earned by how I operate and treat the people around me.
exactly. Insisting that you are called Captain will probably lose you respect these days!
Piltdown Man
18th Jul 2009, 10:33
First name terms please and definitely NOT "Captain" with all company personnel. With third parties like Dispatchers, Refuellers, Loaders, etc. I'll call them by their first names if I know them otherwise "Sir" or "Madam". With pax. it will also be "Sir" & "Madam" unless I know their name when it will "Mr xxx " etc. I want to be one of the first to hear that something is not normal or that there is something that the crew are concerned about - and if you are known as "Captain RRRrs" you are unlikely to get the feedback you need. When speaking to the pax I give my full name and anybody else is referred to the blanket description of "my colleagues" and their full name. Only when something out of the ordinary occurs do I become "Captain". On the ground, subject to time, I'll also speak to whoever wishess to speak to me. If there is flak to be taken, I'll take it - don't have a go at my crew!
PM
A bit off topic, but when I first upgraded to the left seat, I was flying a domestic trip to Orlando, I was returning to the plane and someone yelled out my name very loudly in the jetway, I turned to see who it was.
Turned out to be the gate agent working the flight, she was quite red faced, she said "I'm sorry I tried getting your attention by calling you Captain, then I tried Sir, then finally asked one of your flight attendants your first name !!"
:)
leewan
18th Jul 2009, 13:26
Respect does not come from being called "Captain". Respect is earned, and that is earned by how I operate and treat the people around me.
Couldn't agree with you more.:ok:
Respect should be earned, not demanded.
In some Asian airlines, the captain has god like status to the extent that i've seen them reprimanding ground staff and cabin crew to tears sometimes for the most mundane things ! I remember listening to a youtube video of an ATC recording where a Asian airlines captain demands to be spoken with respect to the american ATC. This commonly exists with the older Asian crews.
Western tech crews will also address the people around them( engineers, ground staff) as sir.
linedriva
18th Jul 2009, 13:40
Driving from the right hand side of the aircraft, I'm seldom called by my name - I'm mostly know as 'and you'!!!!;)
"Captain, would you like a coffee, - and you?"
PilotsOfTheCaribbean
18th Jul 2009, 13:54
That's not because your name is Andrew is it?
Capt Claret
18th Jul 2009, 14:56
I'm with Piltdown Man. I dislike being referred to as Captain by the crew or hotel staff, or ground transport staff, or ground staff, unless it's said to a pax, eg The Captain says ....
Most seem to accept this but a few have difficulty, from my observations, because of ethnic mores.
Old Smokey
18th Jul 2009, 15:05
I prefer to be called by my first name, in fact, if the F/O calls me Captain, I usually respond with "Forgot my name huh?" If they further insidt upon calling me Captain, I pull out my Passport and ask them to show me where it says Captain as any part of my name.
Admittedly, if the F/O or the cabin crew have forgotten my name, Captain is a very convenient substitute.
As far as the line of authority / respect goes, for heaven's sake, I know that I'm the Captain, they know that I'm the Captain, and it does not degrade my authority by one iotre!:ok:
Yeah yeah, it might be a cultural thing in some parts of the world (including mine), but I reserve the right, as does every other human being, to be addressed by the name that they choose.
Best Regards,
Old Smokey
point8six
18th Jul 2009, 16:18
As it's a cultural thing in your part of the world - do your co-pilots call you "Smokey Old" or just "Smokey"?:confused:
poina
18th Jul 2009, 16:50
Anyone who wants to be referred to as Captain instead of his name must have some deepseated image problems. I would not want to fly with him as crew or pax.
I'm mostly know as 'and you'!!!!
"Captain, would you like a coffee, - and you?"
If this happened on my airplane, that particular cabin crew member would be sent to the lower galley, and a new R1 found, pronto.
Further, our CC members positively know better than to try this 'and you?' nonsense..because they have been so instructed by the head shed.
Anyone who wants to be referred to as Captain instead of his name must have some deepseated image problems. I would not want to fly with him as crew or pax.
I expect you would not be invited.:}
Herod
18th Jul 2009, 19:40
Many years ago, when I was flying turboprops, part of the checklist would be that the senior cabin crew would report number of pax, doors closed and undercarriage pins on board. The captain would reply with the flight time and cruising level. One very experienced stewardess had it down nicely.
"Forty-two pax, two doors closed, three pins on board, Captain"
"One hour forty-five, at sixteen thousand."
"Thanks, Peter"
What more is there to say?
411A, not withstanding your operators antiquated requirements that you are called Captain, what would you prefer if you had your way?
If you worked in a more enlightened environment would you still insist on being called Captain?
Tinstaafl
18th Jul 2009, 22:03
I tend to think 'Captain' is a bit too formal, except for urgent situations that demand immediate attention. The rest of the time 'My Lord, Protector and Wondrous Commander of this Vessel' is fine. Salute followed by a bow while genuflecting limited to start and at end of duty. People tend to think you're a bit weird otherwise.
Duck Rogers
18th Jul 2009, 22:06
Weirdo.:E
...
javelin
18th Jul 2009, 23:30
God works for me...................
No, I'm a pagan, honestly.
:E
411A, not withstanding your operators antiquated requirements that you are called Captain, what would you prefer if you had your way?
The same, no changes.
tom775257
19th Jul 2009, 04:11
At the first airline I worked for, a traditional flag carrier we addressed the Captains (at the time all training captains) as 'Captain' or 'Sir' and the Chief pilot as 'Chief.' It was interesting then progressing as a cadet to JFO to an FO and flying with normal line captains, suddenly it all changed; mixed requirements.. some liked the traditional approach, some wanted first name.
Later I started working for an English airline as an SFO, everything is first name from the chief pilot downwards. I certainly got whipped into shape at the first airline, and it has paid dividends in my career I think. During base training the chief pulled an engine to idle in the A320 as I rotated (for real not in the sim), very very un-PC these days! All good training though...
Exaviator
19th Jul 2009, 06:14
Would recommend reading the book, "Call Me Captain". Unfortunately I can't remember the author, but I believe he was with B.A.:D
AERO_STUDENT
19th Jul 2009, 09:29
I'm a 5th year FO now on the A320 family, UK carrier.
First name terms for me between me and the Captain.
That leaves "Captain" as a formal title for extra impact if needed...eg CAPTAIN YOU MUST GO AROUND.....
My 2 bob...
parabellum
19th Jul 2009, 12:45
I think most aspects have been covered here and in other threads. Sometimes it is a cultural thing and at other times it is just a case of normal practice within your company.
What we do have to guard against are those who would deliberately try to devalue the position and denigrate the holder, sad to say a couple are evident on this thread.
(not you, Slowto280!;))
dontdoit
25th Jul 2009, 11:52
I'm guessing that 411A has "Captain .... ........... " on his Credit Cards ????
hector
25th Jul 2009, 12:49
I'm guessing that 411A has "Captain .... ........... " on his Credit Cards ????
Don´t you?:confused:
DC-ATE
25th Jul 2009, 13:58
Call me anything but late for a meal.
Final 3 Greens
25th Jul 2009, 14:51
I once got called 'captain' by the refueller, when I took my PA28 to the gas pits on a PPL.
Talk about embarrassing :\ Especially as I was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt.
Dawdler
25th Jul 2009, 20:37
He was probably being ironic!!!!
nicolai
25th Jul 2009, 23:19
Would recommend reading the book, "Call Me Captain". Unfortunately I can't remember the author, but I believe he was with B.A
David Beaty? There seem to be a few copies on secondhand book websites.
I'm going to take a guess it's the same person as wrote "The Naked Pilot", though I welcome correction if not.
Edited to add: Further searching turns up the suggestion that he originally used the nom de plume Paul Stanton for the earlier editions.
dontdoit
26th Jul 2009, 13:54
hector - not me, but I know a fellow Captain who does, and on his cheque book too :eek:
Exaviator
27th Jul 2009, 00:24
"Edited to add: Further searching turns up the suggestion that he originally used the nom de plume Paul Stanton for the earlier editions."
That name does sound familiar - it was a good read and raised a few laughs.:ok:
40&80
31st Jul 2009, 11:54
Captian on the aeroplane...darling in the room.
I've worked for two deep-deep-south airlines, and at both of them, referring to the skip as "Captain" has been reserved in policy for the most dire of situations. Such as "Captain, you must listen to me" or the phrase uttered by CC to initiate a flight deck lock-down.
Call any of our guys Captain, directly, and they'd most likely soil themselves thinking that your succeeding conversation was going to imply major poop vs. fan... :}
Springer1
2nd Aug 2009, 04:36
Only my wife calls me Captain...but then I am required to address her as Admiral.
Taildragger67
3rd Aug 2009, 16:21
"Hey, you with the tie on, when do we land?!"
rog747
3rd Aug 2009, 17:02
always called the skipper 'captain'
or, if addressing both pilots (or all the cockpit crew if more than 2) i would always say 'good morning/evening gentlemen'
i suppose i was brought up to call the local bobby 'sir'
but a ship's skipper or an aircraft skipper deserves to be called captain,
most, if not all earned it.
i am amazed at F/O's who resent this term to their colleague.
any crew or ground staff who have an issue with that then they are in the wrong job.
i was assistant to station manager and in the good old days of smart uniforms i had 3 then 4 gold rings too (thin gold ones mind lol),
i was very popular as i was a gent and calm and respected everyone.
i'm not perfect but i had an easy ride.;)
screwballburling
3rd Aug 2009, 19:49
I insist on being addressed as Captain, until "stood down", when Sir will suffice. We cant let standards slip, can we.
I also require CC to carry my bags, as the FD crew have refused this privilege. However I take the precaution of bringing my own food and drink to work. :)
Travelair
4th Aug 2009, 15:46
All cultural. I used to work in a very strict "captain" country. I laughed at the :mad: that required he be called captain at home by his servants!!!
I prefer my name, and have found never has my respect or authority been endangered. They are not a consequence of titles but of actions and how you manage your crew, I thinks!!
Cabins where FOs have to say Captain every second phrase become vertical and cold.
Tair
Union Jack
4th Aug 2009, 17:41
Fascinating stuff for an old sailor, as is the following thread telling it the way our friends Down Under saw the matter in 2002:
Captain Queegs of the Cockpit
Plus ça change and all that .....
I'm also reminded of Cary Grant playing the submarine CO in, I believe, Operation Petticoat, saying something on the lines of "In this submarine we're all known by our nicknames, and my nickname is 'Captain' "!:cool:
Jack