Originally Posted by Timbo

My immediate first thought was cabin pressure which is why I wanted to stop climbing.

After running the ECAM it was a anti icing issue instead but the note, "avoid icing conditions" prompted me to "expand my team" (and load up the IP vs me!) and ask about which airport would be better, icing wise, SEA v PDX. That puts it on the IP (as the dispatcher) to tell you where to go, vs YOU picking the wrong place to go.

The seat filler FO was no help at all so I was basically single pilot but in a way that was good too because he had to do all the flying and any mistakes would be on an IP, not a crew error. He did fine but wasn't any 'help'.

The worst part of my experience was having to go through the entire program with another captain instead of a real FO.