The marks of a Professional
Thread Starter
The marks of a Professional
Hi Everyone
just wondering what marks a true professional pilot (besides the Epaulets
).
i.e. Always turns on landing lights on final, even it is it a little Cessna in the day time, Doesn't settle for "close enough is good enough" when it comes to V speeds etc
Thanks in advance
just wondering what marks a true professional pilot (besides the Epaulets
).i.e. Always turns on landing lights on final, even it is it a little Cessna in the day time, Doesn't settle for "close enough is good enough" when it comes to V speeds etc
Thanks in advance
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An EAL mechanic I knew would sometimes point to the cockpit chair and say "look there - see that - that's the marks of a professional pilot" 
What about....Always getting the girl ?
Sorry - couldn't resist.
Tis a good question that surely deserves more than I offer.......
What about....Always getting the girl ?
Sorry - couldn't resist.
Tis a good question that surely deserves more than I offer.......
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The question was, 'What marks a true professional?'. While there is a degree of self-consciousness and embarrassment for many of you in answering such a question, which has resulted in the kind of humorous replies seen above, it's a reasonable question and it deserves a sensible answer.
The first thing to say is that it has nothing to do with landing lights! Procedures in a particular aircraft and a particular environment may be evidence of a professional attitude, but they do not define anything.
Professionalism comes from many things, but it is founded primarily on integrity. Integrity drives you to do the things you know are right even when it is difficult, time-consuming, embarrassing, or requires more effort than not doing so. There are many situations in everyday life, as I'm sure you are aware, when these things apply. How often have you failed to do something you know to be right because you couldn't be bothered, or it would have taken extra time out of your day, or it would have involved an element of exposure to ridicule or even threat? You know, deep down, that there is probably at least one situation every day where you've taken the easy way rather than the right way! We all do it, in many, many different situations.
Well, once you are involved with aircraft, that has to change. Whatever you do in your life outside flying, once your working day starts integrity drives everything. Doing the right thing becomes infinitely more important than doing the easy thing, because your life, and several hundred passengers' lives, depends on it. At your end of the career, it starts with learning what the right thing is in the first place. That means equipping yourself with the knowledge required to inform your choices and actions. That doesn't mean knowing everything, incidentally! A professional knows to avoid cramming his or her brain with information irrelevant to the primary task, because they know where to find that information when it is needed. You'll find that a very great deal of the information you need is quite adequately stored in manuals and textbooks rather than in your brain, taking up space needed by more important stuff.
Developing a professional attitude means listening to and studying the methods and actions of your mentors, be they groundschool instructors, flying instructors, training captains, examiners or line captains. Not with a view to criticising them (you're not yet in any position to do that), but to see what works, what works well, and what could be done better. With very few exceptions, even the worst of your line colleagues in any reputable airline will be making a reasonable stab at professionalism, and it's up to you to learn from each and every aviation professional you come across in order to improve your own effort.
That sounds a bit earnest and dry, and indeed you will find people who take it all so seriously that they do nothing other than what I've described above. However, like an elite athlete, a professional how to match the effort expended to the requirements of the task at hand. There is little point, for instance, using huge amounts of brainpower and energy worrying about all this stuff in the cruise if by the time you come to the landing phase, you're too knackered to do a decent job! The professional will know how to use the appropriate time to relax so that they are at the top of their game when they need to be. Again, knowledge - of the aircraft and the environment - is key to being able to make this judgement, and integrity is fundemantal in acquiring the knowledge.
Most of this stuff is there, inside you, whether you know it or not. The various formal and informal selection procedures you will undergo over the next few years are designed, in part, to determine that only those with an adequate level of integrity will get through (though, before anyone tells me about Bloggs of SuperAir, any selection procedure is imperfect!). As long as you do what you're told, when you're told to, and you spend some time thinking about why you were told it, you will acquire the knowledge you need at about the right rate so that, when the time comes for you to command an airliner, you should have all the qualities and knowledge required.
Work hard, listen to those who've been there before you, read things like Chirp and Pprune Tech Log forum and Safety and Q&A forum, and don't forget to enjoy yourself. It will all come together in time!
Scroggs
The first thing to say is that it has nothing to do with landing lights! Procedures in a particular aircraft and a particular environment may be evidence of a professional attitude, but they do not define anything.
Professionalism comes from many things, but it is founded primarily on integrity. Integrity drives you to do the things you know are right even when it is difficult, time-consuming, embarrassing, or requires more effort than not doing so. There are many situations in everyday life, as I'm sure you are aware, when these things apply. How often have you failed to do something you know to be right because you couldn't be bothered, or it would have taken extra time out of your day, or it would have involved an element of exposure to ridicule or even threat? You know, deep down, that there is probably at least one situation every day where you've taken the easy way rather than the right way! We all do it, in many, many different situations.
Well, once you are involved with aircraft, that has to change. Whatever you do in your life outside flying, once your working day starts integrity drives everything. Doing the right thing becomes infinitely more important than doing the easy thing, because your life, and several hundred passengers' lives, depends on it. At your end of the career, it starts with learning what the right thing is in the first place. That means equipping yourself with the knowledge required to inform your choices and actions. That doesn't mean knowing everything, incidentally! A professional knows to avoid cramming his or her brain with information irrelevant to the primary task, because they know where to find that information when it is needed. You'll find that a very great deal of the information you need is quite adequately stored in manuals and textbooks rather than in your brain, taking up space needed by more important stuff.
Developing a professional attitude means listening to and studying the methods and actions of your mentors, be they groundschool instructors, flying instructors, training captains, examiners or line captains. Not with a view to criticising them (you're not yet in any position to do that), but to see what works, what works well, and what could be done better. With very few exceptions, even the worst of your line colleagues in any reputable airline will be making a reasonable stab at professionalism, and it's up to you to learn from each and every aviation professional you come across in order to improve your own effort.
That sounds a bit earnest and dry, and indeed you will find people who take it all so seriously that they do nothing other than what I've described above. However, like an elite athlete, a professional how to match the effort expended to the requirements of the task at hand. There is little point, for instance, using huge amounts of brainpower and energy worrying about all this stuff in the cruise if by the time you come to the landing phase, you're too knackered to do a decent job! The professional will know how to use the appropriate time to relax so that they are at the top of their game when they need to be. Again, knowledge - of the aircraft and the environment - is key to being able to make this judgement, and integrity is fundemantal in acquiring the knowledge.
Most of this stuff is there, inside you, whether you know it or not. The various formal and informal selection procedures you will undergo over the next few years are designed, in part, to determine that only those with an adequate level of integrity will get through (though, before anyone tells me about Bloggs of SuperAir, any selection procedure is imperfect!). As long as you do what you're told, when you're told to, and you spend some time thinking about why you were told it, you will acquire the knowledge you need at about the right rate so that, when the time comes for you to command an airliner, you should have all the qualities and knowledge required.
Work hard, listen to those who've been there before you, read things like Chirp and Pprune Tech Log forum and Safety and Q&A forum, and don't forget to enjoy yourself. It will all come together in time!
Scroggs
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Fantastic post scroggs, do you mind if i save it in word so i can read it again in the future to cement in my mind the valuable points you made.
Thanks
Capt Holland
By all means - Scroggs
Thanks
Capt Holland
By all means - Scroggs
Professionalism comes from many things, but it is founded primarily on integrity.
To kick-out the thread drift: pilots possesing CPL and ATPL are called professional pilots. Therefore true professional pilots do their utmost to prevent their certificates from being revoked by: a) local CAA b) the Grim Reaper. First sentence is from my Air Law, the second one is MHO.
Originally Posted by Clandestino
Hey, have you ever heard phrase "professional manager"? Perhaps this is the reason why.
To kick-out the thread drift: pilots possesing CPL and ATPL are called professional pilots. Therefore true professional pilots do their utmost to prevent their certificates from being revoked by: a) local CAA b) the Grim Reaper. First sentence is from my Air Law, the second one is MHO.
To kick-out the thread drift: pilots possesing CPL and ATPL are called professional pilots. Therefore true professional pilots do their utmost to prevent their certificates from being revoked by: a) local CAA b) the Grim Reaper. First sentence is from my Air Law, the second one is MHO.
Nope, I've never heard that one either.
G
Thread Starter
Some wise words there scroggs!
Getting more technical, but right in line with what you where saying about not doing things the easy way, I find that in many cases, people will do the bare minimus and it is quite hard to tell (with my very limited experience) what attributes show true professionalism... one knows or at the very least assumes that the boys and girls flying heavy metal know what they are doing.
I am counted as a professional in my current line of work as a Senior Software Analyst and know exactly what attributes to look for in my peers, when on a review and selection panel, where we look at how a person handles themselves, general manners and techincal knowledge and competance.
It becomes quite easy to pick out individuals that are going for a position that is "above their head", in how they handle questions, thought processes and technical knowledge... Many have "that piece of paper" (degree, diploma etc), much like a commercial pilot has his/her licence, but this is no real indicator of how they handle themselves and their knoweldge beyond an intermediary point.
Maybe I have answered my own question...
A professional pilot is a person that conducts themselves professionaly in ever aspect of their job, and does exactly what they are ment to do and does not take a "near enough is good enough" approach to all aspects of their flying, including when the aircraft is on the ground, before and after flight.
There is a wealth of knowledge on these forums, and would still love hearing everyones opinions and maybe add their own perls of wisedom to this discussion.
Al
Getting more technical, but right in line with what you where saying about not doing things the easy way, I find that in many cases, people will do the bare minimus and it is quite hard to tell (with my very limited experience) what attributes show true professionalism... one knows or at the very least assumes that the boys and girls flying heavy metal know what they are doing.
I am counted as a professional in my current line of work as a Senior Software Analyst and know exactly what attributes to look for in my peers, when on a review and selection panel, where we look at how a person handles themselves, general manners and techincal knowledge and competance.
It becomes quite easy to pick out individuals that are going for a position that is "above their head", in how they handle questions, thought processes and technical knowledge... Many have "that piece of paper" (degree, diploma etc), much like a commercial pilot has his/her licence, but this is no real indicator of how they handle themselves and their knoweldge beyond an intermediary point.
Maybe I have answered my own question...
A professional pilot is a person that conducts themselves professionaly in ever aspect of their job, and does exactly what they are ment to do and does not take a "near enough is good enough" approach to all aspects of their flying, including when the aircraft is on the ground, before and after flight.
There is a wealth of knowledge on these forums, and would still love hearing everyones opinions and maybe add their own perls of wisedom to this discussion.
Al
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Being the eternal cynic, I'm always suspicious that making the right noises about professionalism, integrity and such like has more to do with presentation (conciously or otherwise).
If flying is like any other business, something which I have yet confirm, then being a professional means being able to juggle your priorities such that you give the following impression depending on who is looking:
The Management:
1. Maximising revenue, minimising cost
2. Customter service
3. Regulations
4. Safety
The Customer
1. Customer service
2. Safety
3. Regulations
4. Revenue and cost don't even appear on the radar
The Captain (if applicable)
1. Regulations
2. Safety
3. Maximising revenue, minimising cost
4. Customter service
HR department
1,2,3 & 4 Everying has an equal priority and metrics are included, excluded and altered on whim - well they are if you have had the "Investors in People" standard inflicted upon you. HR never seem to operate in the same world. Do they even need oxygen?
I suspect, regardless of your position, the trick is being capable of appearing to do the above whilst all the time endeavouring to act upon these often conflicting priorities:
1. Safety
2. Regulations
3. Customter service
4. Maximising revenue, minimising cost
If flying is like any other business, something which I have yet confirm, then being a professional means being able to juggle your priorities such that you give the following impression depending on who is looking:
The Management:
1. Maximising revenue, minimising cost
2. Customter service
3. Regulations
4. Safety
The Customer
1. Customer service
2. Safety
3. Regulations
4. Revenue and cost don't even appear on the radar
The Captain (if applicable)
1. Regulations
2. Safety
3. Maximising revenue, minimising cost
4. Customter service
HR department
1,2,3 & 4 Everying has an equal priority and metrics are included, excluded and altered on whim - well they are if you have had the "Investors in People" standard inflicted upon you. HR never seem to operate in the same world. Do they even need oxygen?
I suspect, regardless of your position, the trick is being capable of appearing to do the above whilst all the time endeavouring to act upon these often conflicting priorities:
1. Safety
2. Regulations
3. Customter service
4. Maximising revenue, minimising cost
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HWD, you are indeed a cynic! Moreover, such an attitude will cause problems when your knowledge of what is right is overridden by your concern about who's looking and what they will think.
Professionalism in aviation is primarily about safety. Not exclusively; the task which your employer has set you deserves to be carried out as well as possible, but safety considerations must always override everything else. That is what you are employed for: your expertise in keeping the employer's customers safe is what keeps him in business. All employers are keenly aware of what an accident will do to their business prospects, and if your employer needs reminding there are plenty of examples of airlines that have gone to the wall after fatal accidents. If that isn't enough to persuade you that you serve only one master, self-preservation ought to fill in the gaps!
Scroggs
Professionalism in aviation is primarily about safety. Not exclusively; the task which your employer has set you deserves to be carried out as well as possible, but safety considerations must always override everything else. That is what you are employed for: your expertise in keeping the employer's customers safe is what keeps him in business. All employers are keenly aware of what an accident will do to their business prospects, and if your employer needs reminding there are plenty of examples of airlines that have gone to the wall after fatal accidents. If that isn't enough to persuade you that you serve only one master, self-preservation ought to fill in the gaps!
Scroggs