Originally Posted by
Jetlife
This is what you, and your fellow management AMFers still don't, and clearly never will, get. A second crewmember is NOT just an expense. They are an asset to the cockpit, an asset to the company, an asset to safety, and they should be treated as such.
Your statement should speak volumes as to how FOs will be treated there.
You're right. I was a bit clumsy in how I phrased that. As about a third of my own flight time is in crew aircraft (and a good portion of that in a 6 crewmember plane) I know very well the advantages an additional crew member can provide, provided they are well qualified.
I was speaking strictly from a business view point. As almost all of our operations can be conducted single pilot, paying a second pilot during flights where it isn't required IS an expense. Once that pilot becomes a captain, then they DO generate revenue that an FO rarely does. That's not to denigrate FOs. It's just reality.
Would it be nice to pay to have a second pilot on every flight? IMHO, absolutely. Does it make good business sense? No. If it did, then the airlines would pay to have a third pilot sit in the jump seat every flight to have another set of eyes overseeing everything.