Recommendations, in no particular order, by seat.

For you electric jet F/O's: brief your approaches from the FMS, not the charts; know the sequence of steps, relative to altitude acknowledgment/verification, and use them, while still giving the other guy time to do his job; if you're the PF, let the other guy make the 1000' (above or below) call. It doesn't show good manners to beat him to it; remember you might be the pilot flying, but it's the Captain's jet, if you think you need EAI, ask for it. Worst case, he'll disagree, won't turn it on, but might share with you his reasoning; Think waaaay ahead of the jet, and take the extra effort to build both a primary as well as a secondary approach, using ATIS, Forecast wx, etc, to help you get an idea of the landing runway. You might even ask the other guy, who might have been into that airport many times in the last few months; assuming the Captain buys you one or more beers, you might at least offer to buy him one, at sometime during the trip. Regardless of whether he actually lets you do it, or not, it is the right thing to do. There really is no dead time on a flight, and the really good pilots are the ones that hide this fact well, while watching a DVD or reading a book... plan, plan, plan. Always remember it's a joint effort and that nobody knows all the answers; Always bring your sense of humor on trips, life is too short to be serious all the time.

For you Captains: everyone on your flight knows whose in charge, you don't have to explain it to them; use the golden rule; hold and maintain yourself, both physically and professionally, to the highest standard that you can... others will notice and emulate. If you're 50 pounds overweight, at least get over to Hong Kong and have Linda Chang make you some clothes that hide as much of that fact as possible, then get on a diet, because believe me, you're at risk; let your First Officers make mistakes, but don't let them off the trip without debriefing what they did and how you might have done it differently; Always debrief your screw-ups, again everyone learns from the same mistake; Everyone wins when both Captains and F/O's get better; Always offer to buy the first round; On a multi-day flight series, do it each day, as it's the right thing to do; At the end of the trip, shake hands and say "thank you" to your crew and, for the help and support they provided you these past few days; Never forget that the reason you're in the left seat and they're in the right, is not that you're better then they are, it's that you (usually) got there first!

As for myself, I've just experienced a life altering situation and have decided to take 6 months off to sort things out. To all my friends at FedEX, I wish you success in your careers, good health to both you and yours, and tailwinds and VMC always.

Fondest regards,

JJ