fit29

I got this email a while ago, real eyeopener, what do you think?

Pilots are a distinct segment of the general population. In addition to flying skills, pilots are selected for their personalities and for a distinct "pilot persona." These characteristics make them safer pilots.

Pilots tend to be physically and mentally healthy. Pilots tend to be "reality based," because by the very nature of their work they are constantly testing reality. There are those, however who would dispute this claim.


Pilots tend to be self-sufficient and may have difficulty functioning in team situations without CRM and other training. They have difficulty trusting anyone to do the job as well as they can. Pilots tend to be suspicious, even a little paranoid. In moderation, this quality serves them well within their environment and is, in fact, a quality that managements look for in the pilot personality. Outside the cockpit, this quality shows up in the tendency of many pilots to set two or three alarm clocks-- even though he or she may generally wake up before any of the alarms go off. The suspicious/paranoid tendency also affects the way pilots function in their private lives, as well.

Pilots tend to be intelligent but are typically not intellectually oriented. They like "toys"-- boats, cars, motorcycles, big watches, etc. They are good at taking things apart, if not putting them back together. Pilots are concrete, practical, linear thinkers rather than abstract, philosophical, or theoretical. On a scale that ranges from analytically oriented to emotionally oriented, pilots tend to be toward the analytical end. They are extremely reality- and goal-oriented. They like lists showing concrete problems, not talking about them. This goal orientation tends towards the short term as opposed to the long term. Pilots are bimodal: on/off, black/white, good/bad, safe/unsafe, regulations/non-regulations.

Pilots are inclined to modify their environment rather than their own behavior. Pilots need excitement; a 9-to-5 job would drive most pilots to distraction. Pilots are competitive, being driven by a need to achieve, and don't handle failure particularly well. Pilots have a low tolerance for personal imperfection, and long memories of perceived injustices.

Pilots tend to be scanners, drawing conclusions rapidly about situational facts. Pilots scan people as if they were instruments; they draw conclusions at a glance rather than relying on long and emotion-laden converstaions.

Pilots avoid introspection and have difficulty revealing, expressing, or even recognizing their feelings. When they do experience unwanted feelings, they tend to mask them, sometimes with humor or even anger. Being unemotional helps pilots deal with crises, but can make them insensitive toward the feelings of others. The spouses and children of pilots frequently complain that the pilot has difficulty expressing complex human emotions toward them.

This emotional "block" can create difficulty communicating. How many incidents or accidents have occurred due to poor communications? The vast majority of Professional Standards cases will be caused by poor communication.

Courtesy of ALPA

vagabond

This article has been making the rounds for several years now. Where have YOU been?

http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/r...070820246.html

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/ma...y-article.html

frozenboxhauler

There are a lot of true statements in there. I see myself in quite a few of those, but I won't tell which ones
fbh

fit29

under a rock?

⌐ AV8OR WANNABE

Mover over buddy, you're not alone. I've never seen this article either.

alvrb211

This represents nothing more than a very simplistic, sweeping generalization of a particular career set. This was drafted by someone with very little knowledge of industrial psychology.

AL

rotorhead1026

In other words, it was probably written by ... a pilot.

Seriously, I hadn't seen the piece either. No loss. Its so sweeping and shallow that it's practically useless, even in the areas where it seems accurate. If it had originated on a forum (rather than an article or paper) I'd consider it "flame bait". One of the posters in the other thread said it originated with an airline's management, to be used as a "button-pusher". This would seem to be correct.

Rama

Sounds like bs. Substitute construction worker or trucker and people would still see many of the same traits.

skyward80

Under the remark about toys, the writer forgot to mention iPod.

Also, the larger the watch, the higher the top-end Mach number of the aircraft. That's important to note as F-22 drivers tend to wear wall clocks on their wrist while a B767 captain might wear a slightly more tasteful (and smaller) Breitling watch.

Skyward80

7576FO

Kenneth Cole square face black leather strap $85.