Originally Posted by
texaspilot76
Man, it sounds like the cockpit culture at AA blows. In addition to everything stated above, I've noticed things while on their jumpseat. From mile long checklists, to writing down fuel and times between every fix, to many really unnecessary tasks, I really hope that the US Airways training and cockpit procedures prevail after the merger. I'm surprised there's any situational awareness at all considering all the things they have to do in there.
The writing down of fuel between fixes is a VERY good thing. We've caught more than one severe fuel leak between 2 close fixes using this technique. Remember the A300's inaugural flight back in 1987 with the VP Flight, CA Ewell, as the captain? They caught a disastrous fuel leak between 2 close fixes thanks to this procedure. Almost had to ditch, but thanks to an EAL crew who told them to pull a fire handle, disaster was averted and they landed in Bermuda.
Otherwise, I agree with everything else you said. We do have a lot of long checklists, and the CA does a lot of stuff he shouldn't have to do. Hopefully this will change with a merger.
I will say that we have a highly skilled pilot group that still manages to fly safely amidst all of these antiquated procedures. 99.9% of the CAs actively set a very CRM-friendly cockpit atmosphere and recognize that most of our F/Os are highly experienced as well.