Originally Posted by SkyHigh

I can see your friends position. As an FO you are invisible. No one cares about your opinions. Maintenance control or dispatch does not care what you think. Management does not want your input. The chief pilot does not know your name. You have no real responsibilities. The company has to dream up busy work to keep The FO awake and interested. You are merely a redundant system that is there to gain experience through observation. Even FA's and baggage handlers have more input and control over their environment.

As an FO passengers will stare at you in full uniform and three bars and ask "are you the pilot"? Meaning that the FO is not the pilot. And in reality the FO isn't. Most of the time the FO gets the same information about the flight as the passengers. The FO is one pilot to many in a job that requires a half alert person to begin with. They have superfluous and respect less job that really is "invisible". There isn't much satisfaction in the right seat.

SkyHigh