What Does an Airline Transport Pilot Do?

Flight personnel refer to those who directly control the aircraft and the navigation and communication equipment on the aircraft during flight, including pilots, navigators, flight communicators, and flight mechanics.

Crew specially trained to take part directly in the aircraft. The number and composition of flight crew varies depending on the type of aircraft and the mission. The crew of a civil airliner is generally operated by the pilot (

By the end of 2012, the industry had obtained 31,381 pilot licenses, an increase of 3,574 over the end of last year. In the actual operation of airlines, under normal circumstances, an average aircraft needs 8 pilots, including 4 captains and 4 co-pilots, according to 2012 data, an increase of 150 to 200 aircraft per year, the number of pilots required is about 1500, which seems to be much lower than the increase in 2012 (3574), but the number of domestic airline pilots The shortage is structural. The 3,574 new pilots were mainly flight students. In this year, the pilots who left the pilot team were mainly over-age captains and flight instructors. Therefore, the shortage of captains and the relative surplus of flight students and co-pilots are the main contradictions of the Chinese civil aviation pilot team in the next 10 years. ^[2]

Flight crew psychological requirements

The external environment in which the pilot works is a three-dimensional environment at high altitude, which can be sunny or cloudy at any time. The internal environment at work is a small cockpit, and it is full of many unfavorable factors such as vibration, noise, low pressure and acceleration. More importantly, the pilot's technical level and flight experience directly determine the safety of passengers and the aircraft itself. These conditions will cause a huge load on the pilot's body and mind.

In many people's cognition, as long as you are healthy, you can be a pilot, but in fact it is not completely the case. Early aircrafts had low performance and uncomplicated equipment, and the physical and mental quality of pilots was not high. Most pilots were aircraft enthusiasts and manufacturers. Shortly after the advent of the aircraft, they encountered two world wars. The intense demand for the war met two world wars. Under the intense demand of the war, the aircraft received great attention and aviation technology has developed rapidly. At this time, people found that not all people who are in good health are suitable for flight. Many strong flight students are poorly trained and even prone to accidents. The improvement of aircraft performance has made people realize the importance of the psychological quality of pilots, and modern flight has become increasingly important to the psychological quality of pilots.

Therefore, in addition to being physically fit and able to adapt to a relatively "harsh" working environment, a good psychological quality is also essential. In a certain sense, modern pilots, especially civil aviation pilots, have more psychological qualities than physical qualities. An excellent pilot should have at least the following psychological qualities: keen, rapid, and accurate perception ability; excellent memory ability; agile and effective thinking and judgment ability; good attention ability; rapid and accurate action response ability; good spatial orientation Ability; strong load resistance and flight endurance; good flight environment adaptability, etc. ^[3]

Flight crew physical requirements

The physical quality requirements of pilots are much higher than that of ordinary people. If one wants to become a pilot, a rigorous medical examination is essential. The simple medical examination barrier hinders many people's flight dreams. The medical examination of the pilot is not like the physical examination of ordinary people. It has strict standards, procedures and rules stipulated by the Civil Aviation Administration's Regulations on the Management Rules for Civil Aviation Personnel Medical Certificates. Generally speaking, a pilot's physical examination has to go through nearly 130 mandatory items such as internal medicine, surgery, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, dentistry, dermatology, and neurology, and there are high standards for balance and vision. For example, we usually use the E-meter to measure vision, while the pilot's vision test uses the C-meter. People who are motion sick or seasick, and who are weak and blind are unlikely to become pilots.

For those who meet the physical conditions, the Civil Aviation Administration of China will issue the corresponding medical certificate. The medical certificate is divided into Class I medical certificate, Class II medical certificate, Class III medical certificate (including Class IIIa, IIIb medical certificate) and Class IV medical examination certificate (including IVa, IVb medical examination certificate). Each type of medical examination certificate will have different medical examination standards and requirements. For pilots who want to engage in commercial transportation in airlines, they must hold at least a Class I medical examination certificate. ^[3]