An important aspect of flying very highly technical aircraft is that the captain and first officers must possess interpersonal relationship skills. Not just for getting along with each other, but to increase the safety margin for the precious human lives that the pilots are responsible for. The following course is designed for both airline, corporate and air charter pilots with only slight modifications.

Crew Management Skills (formally known as CRM) topics cover the following areas: Leadership, Supporting Roles of Flight Crewmembers, Communications, Building & Maintaining A Crew, Balancing Tasks, Situational Awareness, Judgment/Decision Making and Other Factors.

Leadership is defined and roles are examined for the PIC and SIC. The PIC’s role as a final decision maker are reviewed. Supporting roles such as first officer and cabin crew are discussed as within the context of a coordinated crew. Communications are looked at through different types, inquiry, assertiveness and active listening.

What it takes to build a coordinated crew, expectations, and crew briefings are reviewed. Factors working against a crew such as rushing, distractions, errors and complacency are looked at to raise awareness of these issues. External factors such as weather and security risks are also reviewed.

Task, workload and time management reviewed for effective crew behavior. Situational awareness is reviewed with the context of building, maintaining and regaining it. Judgment and decision making through processes such as risk analysis.