C

COOCCKKPPIITT LLEEAADDEERRSSHHIIPP
A G UEST A RTICLE

CRM
A C a s e St u d y
by Norm Komich

I t b e g a n a s a n u n e v e n t f u l t w o d a y t r i p o n t h e 7 3 7 , f o u r l e g s e a c h d a y, w i t h
t h e s e c o n d d a y i t i n e r a r y b e i n g a f i r s t l e g i n t o t h e h u b, a n “ o u t a n d b a c k ”
f r o m a n d b a c k t o t h e h u b a n d t h e n a d e a d h e a d h o m e o n t h e l a s t l e g.
However, the First Officer was coming down with a cold and by the second
d a y, h e w a s c l o g g e d u p e n o u g h o n t h e f i r s t l e g t o s e n d a m e s s a g e t o o p e r a t i o n s
t h a t h e n e e d e d t o b e r e p l a c e d u p o n o u r a r r i v a l a t t h e h u b. O p s r e s p o n d e d t h a t
they would find a replacement for him and they set him up to deadhead home.
A c c o r d i n g t o o u r c o n t r a c t , “ S h o r t R e s e r ve ” p i l o t s a r e s u p p o s e d t o b e “ l o c a t e d
within 90 minutes” of the airport and we had called Ops three hours before
t h e s e c o n d l e g w a s t o d e p a r t . C o n s e q u e n t l y, w h e n t h a t d e p a r t u r e t i m e c a m e
and went and there was still no replacement First Officer, I called scheduling
a n d w a s t o l d , “ H e ’s i n t h e p a r k i n g l o t ; i t wo n’t b e l o n g n o w.” H a v i n g b e e n
“quick called” myself on a number of occasions, I was acutely aware of all
the impediments one can encounter when rushing to the airport: traffic congestion,
red lights, just missing the crew bus from the parking lot etc., and so I made
an appropriate announcement to the passengers and then sat back in my cockpit
seat and waited.
Wa i t i n g
A s I s a t t h e r e w a i t i n g , I c o n t e m p l a t e d t h e F i r s t O f f i c e r ’s a r r i va l i n t h e
context of how I would have arrived—a sweaty individual rushing into the
c o c k p i t w h i l e p r o f u s e l y a p o l o g i z i n g f o r t h e d e l ay. T h a t w a s n o t t o b e t h e c a s e
as my first indication that our First Officer had finally arrived was the Flight
Attendant stating: “So there you are!” But this was not followed by his rushed
entry into the cockpit. Instead he stopped in the galley area and began a rather
lengthy discussion with the flight attendants in which he lamented that he was
o n h i s l a s t d a y o f a va i l a b i l i t y o n r e s e r ve a n d a s a c o m m u t e r t o t h e b a s e , h e h a d
p l a n n e d t o b e g o i n g h o m e a b o u t t h i s t i m e. I n s t e a d , h e h a d b e e n ” b a g g e d ” b y

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scheduling to cover this "out and back" and that would force him to miss the
flight he had planned on taking home and he would have to wait 'till nightfall
t o t a k e t h e l a s t f l i g h t o f t h e d a y, a n d t h a t w o u l d g e t h i m h o m e s e ve n h o u r s
la t e r t h a n h e h a d e x p e c t e d . A s a f o r m e r “ c o m mu t e r ” I a g a i n s y m p a t h i z e d w i t h
his plight but, as you shall see, I did not get an immediate opportunity to
e x p r e s s m u c h s y m p a t h y.
When he finally stopped his dialogue with the flight attendants, he entered
the cockpit without saying so much as one word to me or even looking in my
direction and he proceeded to stow his flight bag beside his seat. Without
getting too mundane here, let me describe what I was confronted with. He
was a rather large and intimidating figure, and the cockpit of the 737 is not
that large, so as he bent over to stow his bag and adjust his seat he provided
me with a very close up view of his backside. This took more than a few
seconds and, still without a word or glance in my direction, he got into the
seat and began a very methodical preflight of his side of the cockpit.
The Situation, The Choices
Now let me tell you that I have taught CRM for many years and I have
p r i d e d m y s e l f i n “ g e t t i n g a l o n g ” w i t h E V E RY o n e t h a t I h a ve f l o w n w i t h . B u t
t h i s r u d e p e r f o r m a n c e w a s b e g i n n i n g t o g e t t o m e. A f t e r a l l , I w a s t h e C a p t a i n
a n d t o n o t e ve n g e t a “ H i , h o w ’s i t g o i n ' ? ” f r o m t h i s i n d i v i d u a l h a d m e c o n c e r n e d
o ve r w h a t I w a s f a c i n g o n t h e n e x t t wo l e g s. I h a ve a l wa y s a t t e m p t e d t o
address any potential problems on the ground where there are a lot more
options BEFORE getting into the air where there are far fewer options available.
As he continued with his methodical preflight, my immediate reaction was to
began to be concerned over whether or not this individual was going to be
a b l e t o f u n c t i o n e f f e c t i ve l y e n o u g h t o r e m a i n o n t h e c r e w. I h a d N E V E R e ve n
come close to replacing a First Officer before, but neither had I ever been
confronted with this type of attitude. He was making it perfectly clear that he
was not a happy camper to be quick-called out and, since the company had
inconvenienced him, he was in turn going to inconvenience the company and
me by taking his sweet time. So as he dilly-dallied along, my blood pressure
was slowly increasing and I was vacillating between having him replaced or
attempting to salvage the situation.
Reflecting ...
At this juncture, I would like to ask you the reader to stop reading for a
m o m e n t a n d f o r m u l a t e w h a t YO U wo u l d h a ve d o n e h a d y o u b e e n i n t h i s
situation.
... On The Issues
The issues that were running through my mind were as follows: If I let him
get away with this, I’ll have NO control over him for the next two legs, so as
the Pilot in Command, I need to exercise my authority and say SOMETHING
a b o u t h i s a t t i t u d e. H o we ve r, i f I D O s a y s o m e t h i n g t o h i m , s i n c e h e i s A L R E A DY

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disgruntled, my saying something to him will probably only make him MORE
d i s g r u n t l e d . A n d w h a t w i l l T H AT a c h i e ve ? A d d i t i o n a l l y, i f I h a ve h i m r e m o ve d ,
it will be a black mark on his record and it will delay an already late flight that
m u c h l o n g e r.
While I was attempting to come up with a game plan in how to respond to
this, as it often does, fate interceded and provided me with a solution. As he
slowly finished his preflight, he eventually got to the paper work on the center
pedestal which he picked up and perused for an extensive time. When he was
finished, his eyes left the paperwork and FINALLY he looked at me. At this
point I was still debating what my first words to him would be. As an aside, I
g o b y m y m i d d l e n a m e , “ N o r m ,” b u t t h e p a p e r w o r k l i s t s m e b y m y f i r s t n a m e ,
“ Jo h n .” A s o u r e y e s m e t , h e c o n d e s c e n d i n g l y s a i d : “A n d y o u m u s t b e Jo h n .”
H i s “ a t t i t u d e ” w a s c o n t i n u i n g t o c o m e t h r o u g h l o u d a n d c l e a r. H o w e ve r , b y
nature, I hope I’m considered by others to be a somewhat nice person, and
here is when fate stepped in. Instead of responding with some preconceived
speech—to “put him in his place”— my natural response was to simply extended
m y r i g h t h a n d a n d s a y, “ I g o b y N o r m ” . I s e n s e d t h a t h e d i d n o t e x p e c t t h a t
kind of cordial response as he shook my hand and told me his name.
Resolving the Situation
In that moment, I decided to play ALL my CRM trump cards and show
that one does not necessarily lose his leadership capabilities by being nice.
( R e m e m b e r t h e o l d a d a g e : “ Yo u g e t f o r m o r e f l i e s w i t h h o n e y t h a n y o u d o
with manure!”) I knew he was miffed about not making his flight home, so I
decided to show that I was NOT the enemy but rather an ally and I said, “ I
heard you say you’ll miss your flight home, but if we really hustle you might
still make it. Do you want the leg over or the leg back?”
This time his body language actually revealed that he was not prepared for
someone who would respond to his disgruntled behavior with a choice and he
p a u s e d a n d a c t u a l l y s q u i r m e d i n t h e s e a t b e f o r e s a y i n g , “ We l l I g u e s s I ’ l l t a k e
it over and you can bring it back.” As I write this, I realize there is a religious
parable in here somewhere, but the point I want to make is that there is more
than one way to skin the proverbial cat. The goal at that moment was a safe
and timely trip over and back. CRM teaches us that we should all get along
a n d w o r k t o g e t h e r a s a t e a m , a n d t h a t ’s e a s y t o d o w h e n e ve r y o n e i s p l a y i n g
from the same sheet of music. But when someone brings in a personal agenda,
as this individual did, it can be far different situation as it was in this case. I
will explain WHY he was so disgruntled in a moment. It was obvious that he
h a d g o n e o u t o f h i s w ay t o d e l a y t h e f l i g h t . I n s o m e w ay, I t h i n k h e wo u l d
have enjoyed a confrontation but I didn’t give him one. In fact, not only did I
NOT confront him, I was attempting to assist him and there was little for him
t o d o u n d e r t h o s e c i r c u m s t a n c e s t h a n t o s i m p l y d o h i s j o b. A n d t h a t ’s e x a c t l y
what he did.

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The Outcome
O n h i s l e g f r o m t h e h u b, h e d i d a v e r y c o m m e n d a b l e j o b o f f l y i n g ; g o o d
stick and rudder skills and he followed standard operating procedures to the
l e t t e r. O n c e w e g o t t o c r u i s e a l t i t u d e , w e g o t t o t a l k i n g a n d t h a t w a s w h e n I
learned that he was being furloughed in 6 weeks and he had few prospects for
a n o t h e r j o b. H e w a s m a r r i e d w i t h c h i l d r e n a n d w a s o b v i o u s l y u n d e r a g r e a t
d e a l o f s t r e s s. I f I h a d h a d h i m r e m ove d f r o m t h e f l i g h t , w h a t wo u l d t h a t
have ultimately accomplished? So by biting my tongue and taking the chance
o f g e t t i n g a i r b o r n e w i t h a s o m e w h a t u n k n o w n c o m m o d i t y, t h i n g s w o r ke d o u t
m u c h , m u c h b e t t e r.
And looking back on this, how bad could it have been? The weather was
C AV U a t b o t h a i r p o r t s, s o w h a t I w a s r e a l l y c o n c e r n e d o ve r w a s t h a t I w a s n’t
g e t t i n g e n o u g h o f A r e t h a F r a n k l i n’s R - E - S - P - E - C - T. A n d I g u e s s I n o w a s k
m y s e l f e x a c t l y h o w m u c h o f t h a t d o I r e a l l y n e e d ? ? P u t a n o t h e r w a y, w a s i t a
true safety issue or just a personal ego issue on my part?? One can command
r e s p e c t b y d e m a n d i n g i t s o l e l y “ b e c a u s e I ’ m t h e A i r c r a f t C o m m a n d e r ! ,” o r
o n e c a n e a r n r e s p e c t b y b e i n g c o m p a s s i o n a t e , a s I w a s. A n d by t h e w ay, I
smoked the wings on the return trip and he DID make that earlier flight home
t h a t h e h a d o r i g i n a l l y p l a n n e d o n a n d w e p a r t e d d e c e n t f r i e n d s. W h a t a c o n t r a s t
to what would have resulted if I had confronted him or replaced him.

The Author
Nor m Komich is a senior domestic airline captain with recent experience
i n t h e A i r b u s 3 2 0 a n d B o e i n g 7 3 7 a n d 7 2 7 . H e i s a v e t e r a n U. S. A i r
Fo r c e p i l o t , f l y i n g c o m b a t m i s s i o n s i n V i e t n a m i n b o t h H - 5 3 r e s c u e
h e l i c o p t e r s a n d C - 1 3 3 t r a n s p o r t air c ra f t . N o r m wa s t h e s a f e t y r e p re s e n t a t ive
f o r t h e A i r L i n e P i l o t s A s s o c i a t i o n ( A L PA ) o n t h e N a t i o n a l Tr a i n i n g
C o m m i t t e e , a n d a l s o s e r ve d a s h i s a i r l i n e ’s c h i e f s a f e t y i n s t r u c t o r a n d
C R M f a c i l i t a t o r. H e h a s a l s o i n s t r u c t e d C R M w i t h o t h e r a i r l i n e s, t h e
USAF and NASA. Nor m's comments appear in many Cockpit Leadership
a r t i c l e s.

Credits
T h i s a r t i c l e w a s w r i t t e n f o r t h e J ul y 2 0 0 3 i s s u e o f T h e M o b i l i t y Fo r u m ,
t h e s a f e t y p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e U. S. A i r Fo r c e ' s M o b i l i t y C o m m a n d , a n d
is reprinted with per mission.

Copyright  2003 Aviation Safety Connection, Inc.

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Latest revision: December 2003
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