easyJet flight crew roles
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easyJet flight crew roles
Hello
I'm not really sure which is the correct forum for this question, but I'll try here. It's a bit unusual, so hope that's OK!
Last Saturday, I flew from London Luton to Geneva with easyJet. When the Captain introduced the crew before our departure, he said he was joined on the Flight Deck by 'fellow Captain 'A' [obviously I will not write his real name]' and First Officer 'B'. Nothing untoward in having two captains on the flight deck, I thought to myself, drawing on some PPruNe knowledge
.
However, the thing that did make me go 'eh?' was this. I am 95% certain that First Officer 'B', when making a top of descent PA, introduced himself as 'Captain B'. How am I certain? Because his surname was fairly distinctive and I do listen carefully to such announcements (perhaps more than your average passenger).
I completely recognise that I may have misheard, or that possibly there was a name muddle in the first PA. But what I wanted to ask is: do you guys know of any circumstances in which two pilots could introduce themselves as the Captain?
As an unrelated question, am I correct in thinking that the reason there were two captains (whoever they were) on the Flight Deck was either:
- a line check where one guy was a training captain
- command upgrade training
- one of the captains was positioning to operate a flight from Geneva?
Given that this was a Luton-based crew and it was a Boeing 737-700, is any one of the above reasons more likely than the others?
Thanks as ever,
Nick
I'm not really sure which is the correct forum for this question, but I'll try here. It's a bit unusual, so hope that's OK!
Last Saturday, I flew from London Luton to Geneva with easyJet. When the Captain introduced the crew before our departure, he said he was joined on the Flight Deck by 'fellow Captain 'A' [obviously I will not write his real name]' and First Officer 'B'. Nothing untoward in having two captains on the flight deck, I thought to myself, drawing on some PPruNe knowledge
.However, the thing that did make me go 'eh?' was this. I am 95% certain that First Officer 'B', when making a top of descent PA, introduced himself as 'Captain B'. How am I certain? Because his surname was fairly distinctive and I do listen carefully to such announcements (perhaps more than your average passenger).
I completely recognise that I may have misheard, or that possibly there was a name muddle in the first PA. But what I wanted to ask is: do you guys know of any circumstances in which two pilots could introduce themselves as the Captain?
As an unrelated question, am I correct in thinking that the reason there were two captains (whoever they were) on the Flight Deck was either:
- a line check where one guy was a training captain
- command upgrade training
- one of the captains was positioning to operate a flight from Geneva?
Given that this was a Luton-based crew and it was a Boeing 737-700, is any one of the above reasons more likely than the others?
Thanks as ever,
Nick
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Nick, it is not unusual and the explanation lies in the nuance.
Captain is a rank, as opposed to pilot-in command or commander. So it is fine for two captains to operate together provide one is checked for the right hand seat. This latter requirement is nearly always the case for operating training captains, but it is also the case for any captain who has completed a small number of additional items on their recurrent training and checks.
Either captain may be designated as the commander, for the flight or series of flights, and to that end it doesn't matter which seat the relevant commander is operating from provided they are operating from either the left or right seat (as opposed to a jump seat.)
It may well have been a line check, although normally (not always,) line checks are conducted on two operating crew members being observed by a trainer on the jump seat.
If an airline is short of first officers, it will sometimes utilize a training captain, or other right hand seat checked captain to operate in that seat.
In order to perhaps avoid confusion, a captain operating as the first officer, might elect to refer to themselves as the first officer, but it is certainly not necessary, nor is it erroneous.
Captain is a rank, as opposed to pilot-in command or commander. So it is fine for two captains to operate together provide one is checked for the right hand seat. This latter requirement is nearly always the case for operating training captains, but it is also the case for any captain who has completed a small number of additional items on their recurrent training and checks.
Either captain may be designated as the commander, for the flight or series of flights, and to that end it doesn't matter which seat the relevant commander is operating from provided they are operating from either the left or right seat (as opposed to a jump seat.)
It may well have been a line check, although normally (not always,) line checks are conducted on two operating crew members being observed by a trainer on the jump seat.
If an airline is short of first officers, it will sometimes utilize a training captain, or other right hand seat checked captain to operate in that seat.
In order to perhaps avoid confusion, a captain operating as the first officer, might elect to refer to themselves as the first officer, but it is certainly not necessary, nor is it erroneous.
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Thanks for the explanation, Bealzebub.
The impression I got was that both pilots who introduced themselves as 'Captain X/Y' were in the LHS and RHS as operating crew rather than observing from the jump seat because they both provided flight information / seemed to be 'running the show'. (Hope that's a reasonable assumption to make - obviously there is no way to tell for sure from the cabin.) Also, from recent experience, there seems to be a trend where the Captain gives the pre-departure introduction and the First Officer gives the TOD update.
It was the fact one pilot was introduced as 'the First Officer', but later contradicted this by introducing himself as 'Captain X' which caused some confusion. This gave the impression there were in fact three pilots of the rank of Captain on the flight deck.
The impression I got was that both pilots who introduced themselves as 'Captain X/Y' were in the LHS and RHS as operating crew rather than observing from the jump seat because they both provided flight information / seemed to be 'running the show'. (Hope that's a reasonable assumption to make - obviously there is no way to tell for sure from the cabin.) Also, from recent experience, there seems to be a trend where the Captain gives the pre-departure introduction and the First Officer gives the TOD update.
It was the fact one pilot was introduced as 'the First Officer', but later contradicted this by introducing himself as 'Captain X' which caused some confusion. This gave the impression there were in fact three pilots of the rank of Captain on the flight deck.
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Sounds like a line check. Would have been one Captain in the left seat and a first officer in the right with another captain on the jump seat doing the check on them. I expect the guy on the jump seat did the top of descent PA because the other two were busy and he wanted to help out as maybe had nothing to do at the time. Also if it was a new FO there may be a requirement to have someone on the jump seat as a safety pilot but this is almost always another first officer as it is cheaper so my best guess is a line check. Maybe name mix up in first PA if you remember the name as the first officer but he later introduced himself as captain.
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Maybe name mix up in first PA if you remember the name as the first officer but he later introduced himself as captain.
Anyway, will never know the actual configuration on that day, but is all very interesting stuff!
Nick
