Time and mistakes, that one learns from, are (most generally) what makes the difference between 250 hours and 1,000, 3,000, 5,000 and on hours.

When I sign a new Captain off, I give each of them the same advice. That is, "Unless you create an environment in your cockpit that the FO feels comfortable to offer suggestions and share information, you are done learning. This is a bad time for you to stop learning."

That being said, it blows my mind when a Captain calls their FO a "Co-Captain."

The industry has taken away much of the Captains ability or authority to make decisions on their own, but that's no excuse to turf decisions onto Dispatch or Maintenance that a Captain, with their FO's input, should be making on their own.

I've heard pilots say, "Why should I make a decision that might get me in trouble when I can just send it over to Dispatch, SOC or Maintenance Control (or God forbid, the Gate Agent)." IMO, that's what a Captain gets paid for, that and preparing their FO for becoming a good Captain.

As far as the back goes, I'm fortunate to fly with very experienced F/A's, so I generally go with and support their assessment of passenger behavior, cabin conditions or problems.

"Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment."

"Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him. "