When airline pilots fly, do they always work with the same First Officer(s) for their career or do they get a new one every flight?Just curious.Thanks,Chris

I think it is the latter case. Crew assignment is purely random.Michael J.

Chris-In order to explain- I have to teach you a few new "airline vocabulary words" first! ;-)TRIP: Common airline term refering to a flight. i.e. a Chicago Trip is a flight that goes to chicago. A dayton trip is a flight that goes to dayton. A trip is an individual flight segment, i.e. from takeoff to touchdown.PAIRING: A pairing is a group of trips put together in order to define a pilot's schedule for a few days. For example, a pilot can leave his home domicile on monday and return on tuesday- having flown anywhere from 2 to 16 TRIPs. The flights that make up his schedule for monday and tuesday would be called a PAIRING. (because all of his trips are paired together!) A PAIRING can be as long as necessary- it could be 6 days, for example....there really isn't a limit. You can tell when a PAIRING begins and ends because the pilot will spend the night at home in his own domicile....LINE OF FLYING: This is a pilots schedule for the month. Frequently refered to as a "Line." A LINE OF FLYING consists of a number of PAIRINGS put together to in a schedule along with the pilot's days off. For example, a pilot could be off on 01AUG-05AUG, then fly from 06AUG-12AUG, then be off from 13AUG-18AUG, then fly from 18AUG-24AUG then be off on 25AUG and fly from 26AUG-31AUG. Each of the "flying" days would be defined by a PAIRING, which is then subsequently broken own into individual trips!BIDDING: Before each month, the airline's computer spit out machinations of PAIRINS and LINES that will allow each published flight in the airline's schedule to be covered. The LINES are published and distributed to the pilots based on what domicile is their home base, what airplane they fly and what seat they occupy. They then review the lines and determine which ones they are most interested in. Each pilot then submits a "bid" based on his seniority in the domicile, airplane and seat. (For example, I am #64 our of 158 captains flying the J-41 at KIAD. Therefor I will pick 64 LINES that I want- and rank them #1 - #64.) After all bids are submitted, the company computers sort the bids based on seniority- and they lines are awarded.... After the lines are awarded- I can go into the computer and look at the schedule I will have for the next month!Now- on to answering your question! ;-)The way airlines match crews varies slightly from airline to airline. At ACA, we are generally matched with the same First Officer for a calendar month. We fly the same LINE for the entire month.At some airlines- crews are only matched together for individual PAIRINGS. In this case- the crew will only fly together for the few days of the PAIRING. Thus you may fly with a different pilot each week.In some instances, in order to meet operational needs- crews will only be paired together for individual flights or just a few flights in a row....So- anyway- I hope that gives you a better understanding!Robert S. RandazzoPrecision Manuals Development Group http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/coolcap.gifwww.precisionmanuals.com

So- anyway- I hope that gives you a better understanding!WOW! That is an INCREDIBLE explanation! Thanks for all the time that went into the post. I really appreciate it!Also, I bought a DVD of United Airlines Pilot Craig Eldridge flying the 777. It was truly the best flight program I have ever seen! I highly recommend it to all my fellow PMDG-777 flyers. One intersting question - The pilot went through this really cool explanation of how messages are transmitted by computer link in a non-verbal way on the 777 - it was so amazing! They would get runway clearances, altitude permissions, etc. all from the computer by data link! He said that the amount of verbal chatter in the cockpit is at a real minimum on the 777. Do you know why this is? Is it just too annoying to have verbal chatter? Are all airlines basically doing this now? Also, what if the computer stuff fails, or the print out paper gets jammed, etc. - Do they just revert back to convetional methods? This video totally amazed me!Thanks again for your teriffic explanations.Sincerely,Chris

Chris-It isn't so much a matter of radio traffic being "annoying." It is a matter of radio congestion.The ACARS and AFIS systems on the airplane are a tremendous tool when it comes to transmitting data. We have them on the J41- and it it really is nice to obtain your IFR Clearance via the AFIS system, rather than having to call, listen, readback, confirm. We can also pull weather, NOTAMs, ATIS and other advisory information via the AFIS system- which allows for far more accuracy in en-route updates of information. The J41 normally only flies a stage length of 90 minutes- but in a 777 or 747 you can reach stage lengths that exceed 12 hours without a hiccup- so having the ability to obtain data via text transmission is a real time saver!The 777 has a really fancy system that allows for actual instructions to be transmitted to the airplane from ATC. This system is being tested for use on a broader scale. I don't know much about it- so I won't comment on it....Glad you enjoy the explanations! These kinds of discussions are actually the best thing about PMDG. The intent of our products is to bring you close to the "real thing." Since I'm out there doing it al the time- I don't mind telling you what it is really like! After all- I spent many years as a simmer before deciding to get serious about my lifelong dream of flying- so if I can motivate somebody else to go and succeed- then that is a GREAT thing!Robert S. RandazzoPrecision Manuals Development Group http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/coolcap.gifwww.precisionmanuals.com

We have them on the J41- and it it really is nice to obtain your IFR Clearance via the AFIS system, rather than having to call, listen, readback, confirm. Do you have to somehow confirm that you received the info - just to make sure that they KNOW you got your IFR clearance?Also, how old were you before you started to pursue your dream of flying? Were you doing something else beforehand for a career? Thanks!Sincerely,Chris

I sure look forward to the J-41, knowing a real pilot of the particular aircraft was on the team. That doesn't happen too often in the addon business, but when Eric Ernst made 767PIC the result was spectacular. I expect the PMDG offering to be just as exiting.btw, I also loved your explanations, Robert!- Oyvind

Oyvind-Thanks! We are hoping for the same results as well!Robert S. RandazzoPrecision Manuals Development Group http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/coolcap.gifwww.precisionmanuals.com