First officer or co pilot
This is certainly not official, but I would say that in general first officer is an airline term, and copilot is used in the military. At least that was how it was when I was flying.
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I would say it's more of a ranking designation. As a Captain, your first-officer is your co-pilot, but your co-pilot may not necessarily be considered your first-officer in the event he/she is equally ranked (another captain or checkairman).
In civilian aircraft requiring 2 pilots, One is designated pilot in command and the other second in command. The designated SIC was historically referred to as "the co-pilot" in both airline and business jet operations. An SIC may or may not be required to be qualified as a "captain" depending upon company preference.
The more modern sensitivities that came along about the same time (late '70s to early '80s?) as the advent of CRM (used to mean COCKPIT resource management, but has since been changed to mean CREW resource management) led to the SIC being referred to as "the first officer".
Many corporate operations today prefer both required pilot crew to be PIC qualified. Even though only one of the two may act as the designated PIC on a particular flight, the designated SIC is often "captain qualified". In these cases they are often referred to by the title of "co-captain".
So regardless of how pilots are referred to with respect to their qualifications or assigned crew position, (PIC or SIC) "co-pilot" and "first officer" both mean "the pilot who is not the captain"!
I guess there's allot of concern for titles among members of society else why would they go to so much trouble to identify the distinctions? In many cases, they've done themselves no favors at all by changing the designations of their job functions. I still feel that a "steward" or "stewardess" is a more dignified title than "flight attendant", which implies a level of responsibility similar to "service attendant" or "parking attendant". Somehow, "steward" or "stewardess" sounds so much more dignified, gender neutrality issues notwithstanding.
The storied comedian George Carlin used to do a schtick about flying as a passenger and part of it went something like this:
Intercom announcement: The captain has turned on the fasten seatbelts sign, please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts.
George: Who the hell awarded these pilots with military rank anyway? You tell the pilot that Air Marshall Carlin will return to his seat when he is done urinating!
Well... something like that anyway.
Whatever you call me, make sure you pay me!
westhawk
The more modern sensitivities that came along about the same time (late '70s to early '80s?) as the advent of CRM (used to mean COCKPIT resource management, but has since been changed to mean CREW resource management) led to the SIC being referred to as "the first officer".
Many corporate operations today prefer both required pilot crew to be PIC qualified. Even though only one of the two may act as the designated PIC on a particular flight, the designated SIC is often "captain qualified". In these cases they are often referred to by the title of "co-captain".
So regardless of how pilots are referred to with respect to their qualifications or assigned crew position, (PIC or SIC) "co-pilot" and "first officer" both mean "the pilot who is not the captain"!
I guess there's allot of concern for titles among members of society else why would they go to so much trouble to identify the distinctions? In many cases, they've done themselves no favors at all by changing the designations of their job functions. I still feel that a "steward" or "stewardess" is a more dignified title than "flight attendant", which implies a level of responsibility similar to "service attendant" or "parking attendant". Somehow, "steward" or "stewardess" sounds so much more dignified, gender neutrality issues notwithstanding.
The storied comedian George Carlin used to do a schtick about flying as a passenger and part of it went something like this:
Intercom announcement: The captain has turned on the fasten seatbelts sign, please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts.
George: Who the hell awarded these pilots with military rank anyway? You tell the pilot that Air Marshall Carlin will return to his seat when he is done urinating!
Well... something like that anyway.
Whatever you call me, make sure you pay me!
westhawk
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Sounds like a third world concern. Right up there with people who think you're not a professional aviator without the gold bars and dopey looking hat.
Who cares?!
I've been called the pilot, the driver, captian, boss, just don't call don't call me shirley
As long as the check clears and everyone knows their job I could care less about "rank" and image.
Side note, "captain" doesn't come from some silly military garbage, it comes from the maritime world, as does much of aviation.
Who cares?!
I've been called the pilot, the driver, captian, boss, just don't call don't call me shirley
As long as the check clears and everyone knows their job I could care less about "rank" and image.
Side note, "captain" doesn't come from some silly military garbage, it comes from the maritime world, as does much of aviation.
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pilot and copilot
until
PAN AM...they made it captain and first officer in deference to nautical terms as there planes were seaplanes (not all).
And it took off. In my manual covering a famous , large manufacturer known for doing a lot of work in washington state, the book says pilot and copilot.
so, don't worry about it.
I did see a dictionary definition once of copilot: a fully qualified pilot ACTING as second in command.
until
PAN AM...they made it captain and first officer in deference to nautical terms as there planes were seaplanes (not all).
And it took off. In my manual covering a famous , large manufacturer known for doing a lot of work in washington state, the book says pilot and copilot.
so, don't worry about it.
I did see a dictionary definition once of copilot: a fully qualified pilot ACTING as second in command.
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At my airline, the term "co-pilot" is considered to be not politically correct. We have Captains and First Officers, both are pilots. It is just a title/position. If you want to call them pilot and co-pilot, go ahead. Same difference.
Agree, in general it's simply semantics.
However, this question comes to mind: what about a multiple-crew long international flight? Do they have an assigned FO, like the captain? Maybe the FO is resting in the crew bunk, while another crewmember (second or third officer?) is in the right seat as co-pilot?
However, this question comes to mind: what about a multiple-crew long international flight? Do they have an assigned FO, like the captain? Maybe the FO is resting in the crew bunk, while another crewmember (second or third officer?) is in the right seat as co-pilot?
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In the US, many companies will title the pilots in this case "Captain, First Officer, and Relief Pilot." A relief pilot is a first officer. In the US, due to hiring restrictions and the ATP rule, almost all long haul first officers and relief pilots have the experience and requirements to be a Captain. I haven't seen a company in the US yet that has any "second officers".
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MarkerInbound Because you haven't seen any aircraft with a flight engineer's panel.
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In our company it works like this;
Co-Pilot wears two stripes.
Usually a person that just entered in to his career as a commercial pilot flying in a multi pilot operation.
Senior First Officer wears three stripes.
A Co-pilot that has met all hour requirements and has satisfactorily completed hour requirements (1500 hours), all company assessment and testing and is promoted to SFO.
Captain wears four stripes. Either came up through the ranks or got hired as a direct entry captain, as he fulfills all company requirements as Captain.
Once you wear the four stripes, you realize how good of a life you had as a three striper in not dealing with all the BS on a daily basis now
Ok, obviously there is also some money attached to every stripe you get
Co-Pilot wears two stripes.
Usually a person that just entered in to his career as a commercial pilot flying in a multi pilot operation.
Senior First Officer wears three stripes.
A Co-pilot that has met all hour requirements and has satisfactorily completed hour requirements (1500 hours), all company assessment and testing and is promoted to SFO.
Captain wears four stripes. Either came up through the ranks or got hired as a direct entry captain, as he fulfills all company requirements as Captain.
Once you wear the four stripes, you realize how good of a life you had as a three striper in not dealing with all the BS on a daily basis now
Ok, obviously there is also some money attached to every stripe you get
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in my book, a co-pilot is any pilot who is not "the" captain, meaning the dedicated commander, in the legal sense. The label "First officer" probably wasn't introduced to airlines as some political correctness measure, but is simply a more general term that has been used to describe the 2nd in command of a ship for centuries (first lieutenant, executive officer, etc). Some airlines that use further rank (pay) distinctions may also employ "second officers", with one less bar (they're cheaper and less experienced, eg Cathays junior cruise relief pilots are called "second officers"). A "second officer" who sits at the controls is also a co-pilot, but a co-pilot can just as well have a captain's bars. What I'm trying to say is that First/Second officer would usually refer to how many bars someone has on the shoulders, rank, while "co-pilot" describes the task of being a pilot who is not the legal commander of an aircraft.
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most First Officers in my experience prefer to be introduced as such, since "copilot" gives the erroneous impression to some pax that they're not really a "proper" pilot.
"Who awarded military rank.." Nautical, actually, just like the naval uniforms, the concept of seniority and most of our terminology.
"Who awarded military rank.." Nautical, actually, just like the naval uniforms, the concept of seniority and most of our terminology.
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to digress a bit, the maritime/naval origins of "captain" are actually military, just as 1st officer. Pilot/Co-pilot was never military only though. Originally, the commander of a ship was the "master" (or "sailing master"). When commercial vessels were used for military aims, a "captain" would be embarked, with his soldiers, and he was originally just the officer in charge of professional soldiers, for fighting (analogous to a captain (rank) of marines embarked on a ship today). In turn, on dedicated/specialized navy ships built for military purposes only, the "(sailing) master" became subordinate to the captain, and "captain" was subsequently also used to refer to the commander of any civilian ship. "Master" remains in use on commercial vessels, a "Master Mariner" is licensed to command ships of unlimited tonnage on worldwide voyages, but any commander of any ship is usually out of courtesy referred to as "captain", or "skipper" (even if he does not hold a master mariner's licence). The "master" was originally aided by his "mates" to sail and navigate the ship, however "officers" in navy/military usage, with professional soldiers embarked, spilled over to all ships generally, so now the "captain" was aided by his "officers". Just like there was a general fascination with navy officers, and civilian blazer (jackets) resembling a navy officers uniform became popular among civilians, 1st officer/1st lieutenant, 2nd, 3rd etc, became popular on civilian ships, depending on the size of the crew. 1st mate etc, or also "chief mate" remains common though. "Pilots" obviously also exist in maritime usage, on board ships, but with a different meaning...originally the "pilot" was the helmsman, the one who steered the ship. Afaik from late Latin pillottus; probably Ancient Greek πηδόν (pēdón, “blade of an oar, oar”), as ships were steered with an oar at the stern, before fixed/dedicated rudders were invented. Pilot, Co-Pilot, Captain, Skipper, First Officer, whatever...different origins, and yes, the "First Officer" as 2nd in command of a large navy ship with 2 dozen officers and a large crew might indeed have looked more impressive in a fancy uniform than a mere pilot/helmsman...so for those who prefer the martial "First Officer" to a humble "Co-Helmsman", why not 
Note, that a "1st officer" would have massively outranked "the pilot", whose only job it was to physically steer the course he was told to hold (contemporary usage of the word "pilot" on a ship is different though). Yet, to save weight, and salary expenses, modern airlines have anyway merged the duties of formerly dedicated engineers, captains, radio officers, navigators, other officers etc with the pilot/helmsman, who still is at the controls and steers, like the helmsman of a ship, besides also doing everything else and to confuse things further... a "1st officer" at the final stages of command upgrade training, while under supervision demonstrating that he can perform the duties of a captain, or a command-qualified relief pilot, could actually be referred to as a co-skipper...
Note, that a "1st officer" would have massively outranked "the pilot", whose only job it was to physically steer the course he was told to hold (contemporary usage of the word "pilot" on a ship is different though). Yet, to save weight, and salary expenses, modern airlines have anyway merged the duties of formerly dedicated engineers, captains, radio officers, navigators, other officers etc with the pilot/helmsman, who still is at the controls and steers, like the helmsman of a ship, besides also doing everything else and to confuse things further... a "1st officer" at the final stages of command upgrade training, while under supervision demonstrating that he can perform the duties of a captain, or a command-qualified relief pilot, could actually be referred to as a co-skipper...
Last edited by deptrai; 29th Jun 2015 at 10:31.