Originally Posted by
okieskies99
Most of the time could care less, but I prefer to meet at the jet, make sure the temp is right, and start heading off any issues that might pop up. There's plenty of time to ask the other guy at length about his wife, kids, and background at cruise. Asking about fuel and the MEL is almost always a quick discussion, and if we really don't want to be bothered to discuss something or do a basic intro, we can always close the doors for a minute.
I believe SWA and Delta don't meet at OPS/FPA's. I think they have CRM at those airlines. Some base/fleet combos at United meet in ops rarely. I don't think they all consider themselves perfect. How is not meeting in ops making the claim to be a perfect aviator? The meeting place is not CRM. The FOM does define should, but standards decided to make a should instead a must or shall. Plenty of guys that meet in ops in the summer with a hat on have horrible CRM, and plenty of guys that meet at the jet have great CRM and set a great tone right off the bat, and vice versa.
An honest compelling reason (referenced under "should")...80% of the time we meet in ops in some fleets, by the time we get to the jet we have passengers on a plane that is way too hot. Calling in missing catering items at some hubs takes forever. That's not disregarding violating the FOM, and I'm interested in how it's not Capt's authority to contact the FO to see if they'd like to meet at the jet.
Nothing a Captain says in ops that can't be said at the jet is going to drastically change the way an FO does his or her job.
I assume the point he was making (since he was replying to someone who will be new) is that some Capts like to meet in ops, take a long time briefing or doing the canned "tell me about your family" and then get their new hire FO to the jet with 20-30 minutes left (with passengers sitting in a hot jet). Many of those guys will also not offer to do the walk around, and when the FA's need anything, add the calls to ops to the FO's list of things to do while they play solitaire. Has the FO been off for a long time, or are they new? Disregarding how much time an FO might need to take on preflight is actually bad CRM.
I agree. Every airline crew has the same discussion before every flight. Most airlines do it at the plane. Our company seems to think that having that same discussion in a remote location, but only for the first flight of a pairing, makes a difference. Personally I think that it serves no purpose. The content of the brief is important, not the location. Regardless of how I feel, as long as the FOM says to go to a weather room for the first flight of a trip, I’ll go have the brief there and then go to the plane. All I care about is that both pilots are on the same page.