Originally Posted by
skypig
That's why it's called show time brother, stop giving the company your time for free. neither the FO or the Captain are unprofessional for showing up at show time. Somehow, we lost the perspective on this. The company has determined that we only need an hour prior to push. And let's face it, usually it only takes a few minutes to read and understand the release and MELs.
So I guess you also iron your shirt and polish your shoes, only on company time?
I don't look at things in advance for the company. I do it for myself. Occasionally there are things that take additional time to look over and consider, and I choose not to rush, just because it all must be done on company time. I try not to let things happen to me, and often am the one calling GOC saying we need to do this, that is going to be a problem, etc. If you wait till the last minute to look things over, you can easily miss something important. And that is what I consider professionalism. I don't care whether it's on company time or not. As an FO, if you show up at the last second, start BSing with your buds, give the paperwork a cursory, quick glance, you really aren't helping the captain one bit.
I guarantee you that my FO's appreciate that I look things over in advance, coordinate for a later show time if the inbound aircraft is very late, or they're working a serious maintenance problem. More time at the hotel instead of sitting at the ramp, instead of just going out to sit and wait. This job is so much better if you are proactive, whether it is on company time or not.