I would like to ask pilots who have cruise copilots in their airlines : how does it go ?
Of course, I posted on T&C because it’s mostly a matter of T&C, but still not entirely. What to the cruise relief pilots do ?
They don’t takeoff and land the plane ? Are they trained to do so in the sim ? How much time do they do it before upgrading to a F/O position ? Do they replace a pilot in the crew, or are they rather added ?
What are the duration thresholds at which you get one cruise copilot then a second ?
Can two cruise copilots be at the controls at the same time ? Do they share the rest equally with the other pilots ?
In my opinion, I wouldn’t have minded doing that type of job for one year or two before upgrading to F/O on medium haul. Being able to travel the world right away, to discover the core job of our company (which is LH not MH/SH). From a union point of view, I agree this is very debatable, but why not ? I think I would prefer a career that starts with cruise pilot and have a better quality of life once become LH FO (more takeoffs and landings, better rest, and also a very good view of it in case I did not want to go back to it and stay on SH/MH)..
Thanks
