When airline pilots are bored and they are on autopilot what do they do?

Question

are they allowed to use electronics, laptops etc

Answer 1

Check their instruments and around the plane, walk around, talk, eat, sleep, go over checklists, make sure that the plane is operating properly. Mainly, however, they talk. Like the crew of Korean Air Lines 007 was talking about banking when they were shot down.

Answer 2

Once the autopilot is turned on and you've climbed out of the terminal/airport area, the work load drops down significantly. Obviously there is still some required monitoring of aircraft systems, ensuring that everything is going to plan (fuel burn/performance/weather) and communicating with air traffic control.

Despite what others might say, even though we might be "professionals", there really isn't that much to do other than make sure that "George" (the autopilot) is doing what he's supposed to be doing. Because of that, there is a lot more "non-essential" activity going on during cruise. We know it happens, the company knows it happens, the FAA knows it happens. Even listening to cockpit voice recordings from EVERY accident out there, you can find some sort of "non-standard" talking or activity.

Particularly on a longer flight, if you don't find some way to entertain yourself and keep from falling asleep inadvertantly, it can make for a LONG flight. (Not to mention your brain starts to shut down).

Here are a few things other things that I have seen/done in myself. They are ranked by how often I observed the activity on a typical airline flight. Obviously some of these activities are things that aren't supposed to happen, but they do. What can I say...

Sat and talked: Airline pilots talk about family, background, etc and also about how the company is s******g them and all of the misc problems they have with management/crew scheduling/dispatch/the union etc. Corporate pilots talk about where they want to eat when they land.

Ate/Drank food/drink (coffee!)

Read the paper

Did the Crossword/Sudoku (USA Today for the most part since just about every hotel in the US gives that out!)

Read a book

Did paperwork

Did company manual revisions / updated charts

Bugged the Flight Attendants (interphone or cockpit visits)

Made passenger announcements

Worked on "stuff they brought from home" (Such as paying bills enroute)

Worked on a laptop computer or other portable electronic device (palm pilot/blackberry/etc)

Took photos

Listened to an iPod or other music

Watched a movie on a portable DVD player

Played games (cards/chess/checkers/etc)

Slept (even when they weren't supposed to)

Stare blindly out the window

Searched for pornography hidden by other crewmembers (in panels, under the seats, etc) - this has dropped down quite a bit with more and more sexual harassment issues...

I've even heard about flight deck crews getting, uh, amorous while in flight... can you say mile high club?

Answer 3

Nap, whatever they want.

Answer 4

Haha yeah what the first answer said.

Answer 5

beat the meat

Answer 6

Our pilots take turns kicking back and sleeping s******g off some other way. We are able to use laptops on our birds so i imagine airline guys do the same.

Answer 7

If they're bored they can click off the autopilot and actually FLY the thing (if they're below RVSM, of course).

Most of the guys just read newspapers or magazines and work on soduko puzzles.  We aren't allowed to use electronics (of course we aren't supposed to do any liesure reading either but nobody pays attention to that rule).

Answer 8

Count their money and discuss how much their new boat is costing.

Answer 9

The ones who wrote insulting answers are more insulting, and more juvenile, than they realize.

"Stewardesses" were women who worked in cabin service on ocean liners in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  They have been called "hostesses" and "flight attendants" on airlines since the 1960s.

And flight attendants are not available for "diddling" (is that the best you can do?) at least not during working hours.  And they would not be, even if it were still the case that all pilots are men.

Professional pilots are very professional, and they consider themselves to be at work when they are being paid.  There are many tasks that need attending to at any phase of a flight, and there is never a shortage of things for the flight deck crew to do.

If you do happen to get caught up, you can engage in any reasonable activity that does not distract you to much from the aspects of flight that require attention.  Reading is not a common practice, but it is sometimes permitted.

Conversation is the most common form of recreation.  The most common subjects, at least when one of the crew is female, tend to be lawn care, the children's educations, hobbies, and, of course, sports.

Answer 10

sip whiskey and diddle the flight attendants.

Answer 11

the talk to each other sleep play things but mostly its pretty busy atleast thats what my dad does he is a pilot and has been for about 25 years

Answer 12

Jim is correct a long with mark.

No we cant drink alcohol beverages.

No we cant use electrical devices

No we don't mess with the ladies ( most of use are married and the flight attendants are doing their jobs)

WE DO..........

Read books magazines

Look over controls gas, pressure ( remember the auto pilot CAN'T do everything its a computer not a human)

sometimes on pilot may sleep while the other stays awake and watches over everything.

Some pilots take pictures and enjoy the view....

Answer 13

at my last airline, i flew thw beech 1900, which didnt have an auto pilot.. so i guess i cant answer your question

Answer 14

During night flights, especially on long haul flights, pilots switch every 30 mins. keeping an eye on any failures that could happen. Most of the time the other pilot just simply sleeps in his quarters. This isn't the case in short domestic flights. In domestic flights, both pilots work all the time.

Answer 15

Watch for collision hazards,

adjust the trim,

adjust thrust,

figure out when to climb to an altitude for better fuel consumption,

find out the weather at the destination airport and alternate airports,

calculate the amount of fuel expected at checkpoints,

calculate the expected time of arrival at checkpoints,

note the amount of fuel onboard at checkpoints,

reroute to try to stay out of hail,

have the right enroute charts out,

have the approach charts ready,

check the accuracy of VOR receivers,

sometimes make routine pilot weather reports, and

decide where the point of descent should be.

Answer 16

Hassel the stewardesses

Answer 17

sigh......

Answer 18

Well, they're supposed to be paying attention to what's going on. On those really long and boring legs it can be very difficult to stay awake and engaged in what you're doing.  Although you're not supposed to be reading stuff that isn't related to what you're doing at the moment, you can always find a USA Today or Wall St. Journal stowed away somewhere in the cockpit. Just don't take it out and read it when the check airman is sitting in the jumpseat, as one FO tried to do on me once.

Answer 19

They break out their laptops and play Flight Simulator. LOL

Answer 20

All depends on the pilot really, most of them tend to do crosswords and other puzzles etc and just get up and walk about a bit.