After a recent trip I was left pondering the science of aero-dynamics, which is quite different than aerodynamics (notice the hyphen). What I am referring to are the dynamics of human relationship while trapped in an aluminum tube far above the earth's surface. I've always heard people say that you have to like the people that you work with because you spend more time at work than at home. I will agree with that statement, but in my previous career I was never forced to sit in my cube with another person and work on the same computer using the same keyboard and mouse. I could escape into my cube from those I didn't care to spend any extended time with. Now, that is not the case.
I've been told that first officers have to be "Gumby", meaning that we have to be flexible when it comes to our co-workers. I've been lucky so far in that I haven't had to fly with "those captains". The science of aero-dynamics does, however, extend beyond the flight deck. There have been two occasions where the captain wasn't a fan of our flight attendant, and vice versa. Because I'm new, and have no track record with anyone whatsoever, I try to get along with everyone, which is my personality anyway. This works just fine until, you guessed it, the parties try to get you to choose sides (I didn't think I was in high school anymore?). Now conventional wisdom, and my personal line of thinking is, you guessed it again, it's probably a good idea to be partial to the person with whom you're sharing intimate space for the majority of your day. This in and of itself works fine until we get to the second observed component of aero-dynamics...
Captains themselves, at least at my airline, can run the gamut of personalities. This is different from my last career where, corporate culture being what it is, people tended to have similar dispositions within a company. Most of a typical flight is a laid back affair, where we simply monitor the aircraft's progress and make sure everything is a-ok. During landing, and from pushback through takeoff, there is an intricate ballet going on and one misstep can disrupt the flow of things. At least it can for this relative youngster. Being somewhat fresh out of training, I tend to follow everything by the book because, well, that's all I know. I have developed some "line flying" techniques, such as turning the air on immediately after engine start and landing, for passenger comfort (no, that is not the actual order of things!), but for the most part I don't deviate. There are captains out there that have a "flair" to what they do when it comes to checklists and flow patterns, reporting times, and, well, lots of other things. Some call for checklists, some chide you for not running them already. Some don't like FO's to start engines, some do. Some don't want you to respond to some ATC directives - particularly taxiing - without checking in with them first. Again, think "Gumby".
Ultimately, we all have the same goal: get our passengers to their destinations safely and on time, while returning to our own families. What happens in between certainly can keep things interesting.
