Originally Posted by
Freightcowboy
AHHH no, if you are in the aircraft, I need them to back me up, kinda hard to rely on them when they are on the phone,
what if we have a situation in the back and I’m dealing with maintenance, it’s hard to delegate tasks when they are on the phone with their “side gig” without getting a little stern when I shouldn’t have to.
I have told F/Os “If you are gonna be here, then this flight deck is number 1 priority, otherwise maybe this isn’t for you or call out”
So no I won’t stay out of it, cause at the end of the day I’m the one who has to explain
That situation is the exception not the rule. Normally you can get the plane ready in about 10 min or less and you just sit around the rest of the time. Sure, sometimes there is an abnormal situation (like something MX) and I'll agree with you that the abnormal situation needs to be dealt with first, but the original poster of this thread seemed like he was complaining about his FO doing his side gig under normal circumstances. As long as the other guy gets their normal duties done, then they can do whatever they want the rest of the time you just sit there and wait.
This is a really easy job. Don't make it harder than it needs to be (because some guys out there definitely do, I guess to justify the fat paycheck?)