Passing time as an airline pilot during flight

Are pilots allowed to read books/listen to podcast/ music at cruise altitude? Or are you guys required to listen to ATC at all times of the flight and be attentive all the time for ATC even if they are not talking to you guys? If not, then how do you guys pass time while cruising. If you partner up with an copilot who isn’t very talkative, does that mean you are just going to have a boring flights until your trip ends? I understand politics is something that is best avoided, similarly are there any aviation related topics or questions pilots shouldn’t talk about?

I’m still in high school but very curious about these topics. Hope my questions made sense…feel free to let me know if it wasn’t clear. Thanks in advance for the info.

Nishal,

Most airline manuals state something to affect that pilots shouldn’t do anything that distracts them from their duties during a flight bla bla bla. That said I’d be lying if I said I’ve never seen it done. Personally I don’t. The last thing I’d ever want if I had a really bad at work would be for the NTSB to listen to the cockpit recorder and hear me rockin’ out to Def Leppard. They’re usually plenty to keep you occupied (fuel scores, position reports, checking weather at the destination, etc) and I’m also a pretty chatty fellow. There are of course times when you’re paired with someone who’s not particularly engaging or you just don’t hit it off with and it can make for a longer flight but that’s obviously not the end of the world.

As for topics to be avoided that again depends on the individual but it’s usually politics and religion. With me I’m pretty open unless you mention that you like pineapple on your pizza :slight_smile:

Adam

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Wait, you work for Hawaiian and live in Hawaii and you don’t like pineapples on your pizza???

j/k

More on topic, can you compare inter-island and international in terms of “down time” in flight? I am imagining that inter-island might be pretty busy where you are almost coming down as soon as you go up vs a 12 hour long haul flight on the 330. What do you do to keep busy on the big jets during those long flights?

Thanks,

Alex

Nishal,
In the beginning of your career your legs will be smaller. Regionals are the work horse for the short little legs between busy cities. Those legs are fun because you’re working almost the entire time. Once you’re up in cruise you’re preparing for the arrival. They can be fatiguing back to back but you’re definitely not bored. I am currently flying Part 135 in a CJ3. We have about a 4.5 hour range but most of our live legs with passengers tend to be 1.5-3 hours. We get to interact with passengers in cruise, helping them get food or drinks, asking about where they are headed, etc. Sometimes the dogs we have onboard even come up to the cockpit with their little wet nose to say hello. I also fly with the same captain for 8 days in a row. So far, all the captains at my company except one have been awesome to fly with. You get to know each other quite well after a week rotation chatting in cruise flight. Like Adam said, there is plenty to do to stay ahead of the airplane. Plus some social conversation within the boundaries of professionalism.

-Hannah

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Alex,

There is no down time InterIsland. Our longest flight is approx 34 min but most are around 25. With that you’re talking maybe 10-15min in cruise. Just about enough to ask “how was your weekend?”.

The longer flights are actually better. Anything over 8hrs you need a Relief Officer. When you’ve got an extra body you reach get a break. So on a 9hr flight you’re only on the flight deck for 6. The 330 has really comfy bunks for sleep or we have a First Class seat if you’re not tired and want to watch movies or whatever.

As for the pizza just because I moved to Hawaii doesn’t mean I lost my sense of taste or my mind!

Adam

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:pineapple: belongs on :pizza:, I said it! Adam we would have a great discussion about Chick-fil-A in the flight deck.

Brady

Brady,

Where’s pizza from? Italy. They have pineapples in Italy? No! End of discussion.

Chick-fil-a is always a safe topic of conversation.

Adam

4 Likes

Adam,

I see you’re from the Bronx and from a fellow NYer (Staten Island) I 100% agree that pineapple does not belong on pizza. Walk into any reputable pizzeria in the city asking for it and you’ll be turned away. It’s the designer pizzerias we have to worry about. Lol

Matt

Brady,

Listen to Matt, he’s a very wise man.

Adam

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Nishal,

Generally I talk, sometimes we joke that a four day trip is really just a four day therapy session where pilots sit and spill their guts our to somebody that they barely know. I do find it a bit more challenging to stay awake when the other pilot is not a talker.

We are forbidden from reading books, listening to music, etc. If you think about it, would you want your pilots rocking out to their favorite tunes when they should be flying the airplane?

Professionalism is always the name of the game.

Chris

I’ve never heard it described in that way before but YES! I haven’t been able to materialize this feeling into words, but this is spot on. There’s something about being in the flight deck with a headset on that makes it feel like a more private environment that gets pilots talking in ways they wouldn’t otherwise.

Nishal, I used to wonder about this boredom question you bring up too. Ironically, overtime you learn to become okay with boredom.

To keep myself busy I crosscheck my panels, flight instruments, FMS, among other things to look for anything out of place or to just make sure I am a few steps ahead at all times. Flying is a dynamic environment. If you’re bored, you’re simply not engaged. There’s always something to do.

Tory

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Usually the Captains that I’ve flown with and I just talk about anything that comes up once we’re tired of talking about the weather, what we’re going to do during our layover ,etc. I flew with another captain for a year and he and I would use the digital manuals on our iPads and discuss a specific system during cruise or review limitations and memory items. I really enjoyed this as I felt it kept us both sharp and makes you dig deeper into systems that you might have been weak on or felt were “breezed over” during the last trip to the school house.