Smoking on Flight Deck
 

Hello all,

Smoking is prohibited where I currently work, however I'm likely to have to change jobs soon, and wondered whether you could let me know what the accepted practice is outside of Western Europe; especially in Turkey, India and countries in the Far East such as Korea and China.

I need to earn a living, however a colleague who smoked inside the aircraft would prove a major issue for me as I'm (a) allergic to cigarette smoke, and (b) try and keep fit by doing triathlons, and it would be pretty grim to go to that effort yet passive smoke twenty-a-day.

I would rather not create a CRM issue before I even start with another company, and understand if you need to be unspecific, but a few pointers would be much appreciated.

Thanks as ever.

Further west you get the more common it is, especially in places such as Turkey and the Middle East where captains believe it is their right to smoke :rolleyes:

However, I would imagine that if you explained the situation (especially your health issues regarding cigarette) smoke then the captain would refrain from smoking?

Middle East, maybe be a bit more specific.

Smoking's allowed in our mob but I gave up a few years ago.
I got no objection if the FO wants the odd one, and if I don't
like it I just leave the cockpit for a few odd minutes when the
workload's low until he's had his fill.

Might work the same way if you ask the cappy nicely that if
he lights one up you would like to leave the cockpit till he's
done. Remember you'll be on THEIR turf buddy.

Thanks guys.

I should have said, I am a B737 Captain, but as you say, I'm very conscious that it IS their turf, and that small issues can be taken out of context or be a catalyst for bigger problems over time.

I mean, I'm happy to politely ask the FO not to light up for a few hours, but I don't want it to result in me having to view my coffee with some suspicion thereafter !

Cheers.

Is it just me or is ther something a bit unsettling about this - an expat Capt cringeing at the thought of telling his FO what to do...Who is in charge on this flight deck?

..Sorry thought you were a FO. In any case by all means yes,
politely ask but give a bit of leeway - if its a long trip offer to
leave the cockpit say every 2 or 3 hours so he can have a fix.
There's a lot to learn about Eastern attitudes and you will do
very well within such companies if you're known to cut your
crewmembers a bit of slack now and then. Remember EVERY
airline within the East encourages their FOs (and Pursers to
some extent) to report on expat captains - you don't want to
get too many offside in this matter esp if its a widely smoking
culture - and no one will secretly spit in your coffee either!

Oh dear Agaricus bisporus, I think it probably is just you.

Most people, normally during the rough and tumble of pre-school, learn that asking is more effective than telling when you want something done (my son has just about grasped this concept, and he's 3 years old). However I suspect that this is especially true when, as a grown adult, you are operating a piece of high speed multi-crewed machinery within someone else's cultural model.

... still (said with obvious irony), if I feel I need to increase my feeling of self worth, I could always shout at the crew !

PS: thanks Slasher, it was the reporting to management, and the ill feeling that (in other people's experience) such issues could generate that I wanted to learn about.

One thing capt Target - you'll find most Eastern cultures don't
differentiate between professional and personal - to them its
one and the same. Thus if you're an ironfist professionally it
will be taken personally - and that's where the problems will
start.

Anyway I wouldn't worry too much about it..that you're doing
some enquiries first means you're prepared to adapt and will
probably get on ok. Its the ones with attitudes like Ab above
who don't last very long around these particular regions (and
find their coffees a bit "slurrious")...

The 707 flight deck positions came fitted with ashtrays just forward of the briefcase compartment on each side, most smoked ( I didn't - Goody Two Shoes) but in those days so did the aircraft -remember those trails of black smoke ? - and I recall Capt's & F/o's smoking pipes and cigars as I sat at the Nav desk with the 'night flying' curtain pulled across and the oxygen mask clamped across my face. All flights were IFR - and that was inside the flight deck !

The nicotine residue used to bung up the pressurisation outflow valves, and cause pressurisation problems, sometimes.

If both crew are smokers, and it's not a taboo in whatever airline your in, what's the problem?
If the capt smokes and he is local and you don't like it, put up with it or ask to leave the cockpit! Their playground......
On a whole, 80%of expats I work with don't smoke, 30% who know I smoke will ask me if I'd like to smoke, then they will leave the cockpit- to me, that's really nice. I never ask the Capt to smoke if I don't see him light up first. I did once very politely on a 6 hour leg to a unhumble South American and got a verbal beating.

I know of one capt who will smoke 6 on an hour leg. The final one from 1000' and I asked him once what would happen if he didn't light that last cigarette up- he showed me, and didn't manage to grease it on like the last flight!

Sadly it isn't-that's why we teach CRM.

In a similar vein you could try what my colleague said to an FO who asked if he could smoke. " Do you mind if I **** on your head"?

pull what - Haha ;)


I always thought that smoking was prohibited on the aircraft period. Especially on the flght deck. How wrong I was... :oh:

I once ferried a small Jet to Russia together with the new Owner acting as the copilot.
After we got airborne he offered me a cigarette and told me that this is a smoking aircraft now.
He bought the aircraft just because he wasn´t allowed to smoke on airlines.

Inbalance

Have you tried electric cigarettes. That's what I use...........never had any issues as there's no smoke or smell. (P.S. It could look like I'm on commission from one of the electric cigs companies, I'm really not, honest)