Spesiellsporing

What makes you comfortable sitting to the right of? What makes you uncomfortable. Speak ye now.

APCHCLIMB

Proper English has always helped my comfort level

hamsandwich

Salsaritas made me uncomfortable once.

sdj1986

"I don't know what he said. I don't think he knows what he said."

ClappedOut145

A captain who texts and says meet at the jet is setting the right tone. One who insists on meeting in the FPA and asking for your background prior to the flight always makes me uncomfortable.

Turbosina

This.

Although, I don't mind the background question, I often asked it myself when I was a CA..."So, whatcha do before you came here?" Just kinda helps get a conversation going and helps you learn about the person.

To answer the OP...

A few classic red flags (all of which I have experienced personally) are as follows. I will say: all but one of these happened while I was at my former employer, and not UAL.

• First words out of his mouth are something along the lines of "Since I'm a check airman / management pilot / former squadron commander/ ..."
• "I'm not racist, but..."
• "I'm real laid back"
• Wears the hat IN the flight deck. Extra bonus points if the headset is worn over the hat (actually saw this happen once)
• "I just talked to the CEO the other day and he told me in confidence..." / and so forth
• Custom bag tag with bird col. insignia
• Brief takes longer than the flight
• Asks to inspect your pilot cert and medical (no, not while you're jumpseating....I mean when you show up to operate the flight)
• Rude to the FAs, ground crew, cleaners, etc
• Refuses to tip the van driver. "I don't get tips for doing my job, why should he?"
• Tells you your SOP-dictated technique is all wrong and insists you do it his way because that's how they did it at his previous airline
• Expects you to do the entire preflight (walkaround, box, clearance, flows, literally everything) and absolutely refuses to do anything aside from sitting there scrolling through pics of his boat / lake house / 'Vette / fourth wife/ etc
• Conversation is essentially a monologue about himself. For four days.
• Makes PAs that bear any kind of resemblance to the Servant Leader's spiel


And then the green flags:

• "Let's meet at the gate"
• Keeps the briefs....brief
• Consciously looks out for his/her crew's well-being (did we have time to get food? Hit the restroom? Is anyone fatigued?)
• Lets you do your thing without unnecessary interference
• When offering technique suggestions, actually helps you learn something and walk away from the flight as a better aviator
• Is perfectly okay with times of silence on a 5-hour leg
• Admits their own mistakes
• (At my old airline where we did postflight walkarounds) "Hey man, I know you gotta catch that commute flight, I'll get the walkaround for ya"
• Is a genuine, approachable, relatable human being

PorkyMcFuzz

“I'm real laid back" 4 of the worst words you can hear…next to “I’m easy going and just fly the SOPs” or something to that effect which is a guarantee they are not in fact easy going and SOP are three words they probably don’t know the meaning of.

And if they pull out the photos of their boat/latest home renovations/how much money they make…you straight up gonna have a bad time

Peabody17

Don't prejudge. Perhaps scrolling through pictures of his 4th wife (especially if she's much younger) could be a bonding experience.

Broncofan

I agree with most of what you said. However I don’t mind the whole gate vs FPA thing. The book says FPA unless directed otherwise from the CA so that’s just what I expect. Not a red flag.

Pilot4000

You're flying a Des Moines turn, not launching the space shuttle, what is there to talk about?