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Ask the Pilot: Airline Rank Structure

November 29, 2010 By 1 Comment

You hear it every flight, the introduction of the Captain and First Officer of your flight, but did you ever stop to ask, “What’s the rank all about?”

The captain of an airplane is what the FAA calls the Pilot-In-Command. They are the pilot responsible for everything that occurs onboard their airplane during flight. This includes all paperwork, safety-of-flight issues, customer service, and crew member issues. The captain is quite literally the final authority on everything that happens.

The first officer is directly responsible to the captain and is there to both assist the captain with his duties and to assist in flying the aircraft. Just like the captain, the first officer is a fully trained and certified pilot on that aircraft. He/She is responsible for any tasks delegated to them by the captain. These tasks usually involve pre-flight and post-flight inspections of the airplane, weight & balance and performance calculations, and running aircraft checklists. Unless rare circumstances exist, all pilots are hired by an airline as a first officer. It is the entry-level airline position and is designed as an experience builder.

The origin of the 4-stripe captain rank and the 3-stripe first officer rank comes from the Navy. In the early years of air travel, pilots were given this rank system to help differentiate them to passengers and crew. As the pilots have become less and less visible in recent years due to security regulations, the insignia have become slightly less important to passengers.During normal operations, the captain and first officer switch off flying the airplane each flight. When in the air, the designation changes in the flight deck to “Pilot Flying” and “Pilot-Not-Flying”. Either pilot may assume either role. The pilot flying will be in control of the airplane from takeoff to touchdown, and the pilot-not-flying will assume the duties of monitoring the radios and assisting the pilot flying.

For most airlines it takes about 6-10 years for a first officer to accrue enough seniority within the company to upgrade from first officer to captain. By that time the first officer has acquired enough flight time and experience in that aircraft to be competent and safe a captain.

Filed Under: Airlines, Ask the Pilot Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Painful Merger Lesson

November 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment

A little over 3 1/2 years ago two large airlines, US Airways and America West, merged to create the new US Airways.  Since then planes have been repainted, counters rebranded, and operations merged on the surface.  However, once you start looking further the story changes.

Earlier this year a disgruntled US Airways “East” (original US Air) pilot group voted for and got new representation under the US Air Pilots Association, freeing itself from the Airline Pilot’s Association (ALPA). This move was made after an arbitrator responsible for merging the two pilot group’s seniority lists made a decision that arguably hurt the seniority of many US Airways pilots.  Since this move there have been lawsuits filed and threats made between the two former pilot groups, US Airways and America West.  It is so bad that neither will legitimately recognize the other as being part of the company.

In addition to these struggles, many former America West customer service personnel have had a tough time changing to the US Airways name and brand.  The America West brand, one they worked hard to make successful, is their identity and change is not easy.  Old US Airways customer service personnel are also facing tough times as hubs are closed or reduced and jobs are being lost on the East Coast due to the new West influence.

With all of these problems still showing up 3 1/2 years later, how will Delta manage to get Northwest successfully into the fold?

The first and most important step is that the pilot groups have been talking throughout the entire process, already reaching and voting on a mutually beneficial labor agreement.  Second, Delta has started to adopt many of Northwest’s policies, fees, and culture so that the changeover for Northwest personnel will be less painful.  Flight attendant’s are already gearing up for standardized uniforms even as the two airlines operate independently.

It seems that thankfully the lessons of the still mangled US Airways merger are being learned and adapted.  Hopefully future mergers will take this “people first” approach and realize if the employees aren’t on-board, you may find fewer and fewer passengers on-board.

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