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We begin part of our aviation career flying completely solo or with an instructor assigned to a specific task. As flight hours accumulate, our cockpit begins to be shared with colleagues, friends, instructors, etc. But after a long path of experience, the time comes to share a professional cockpit with another pilot as part of a working team. This is where novice or inexperienced pilots, who lack knowledge and training in a shared cockpit, often face difficulties in performing routine tasks.
Flying in a shared cockpit not only presents a challenge for any pilot who has developed their career flying solo but also for airlines that foresee this possibility and invest resources in training pilots to bring them to the highest safety standards. Considering this, a pilot with knowledge and mastery of shared cockpit techniques and airline flight resources represents a competitive advantage when applying for a job with an airline, as opposed to pilots who lack these tools.
Learning to fly in a shared cockpit, as in airline operations, involves getting to know your coworker, forming a team where tasks can be shared, roles distributed, and being objective and self-critical without losing the professionalism and cordiality between colleagues.
Flying in an airline environment is teamwork, where there will be a leader and an advisor, roles that will continuously shift, challenging pilots to adapt.
Flying for an airline is more than just flying. It is about sharing, assisting, correcting, helping, cooperating, and "pushing" together toward the same goal: achieving a successful and safe flight.
Let us explore all the tools necessary to make our next shared cockpits a safe and professional environment where airline flight operations are more than just that.
