A study of cockpit crew teamwork behaviors

Abstract

Pilots of commercial airlines comprise generally ex‐military pilots and pilots with purely civil craft experience. There are four major configurations of a cockpit crew based on the composition of the pilots holding the two positions of captain and first officer. The hypotheses of this study are that the team composition will contribute to different teamwork characteristics in terms of teamwork harmony, teamwork conflict, and crisis handling. The hypotheses propose that these characteristics derive from the differences in background, work experience and the training conditions of these two distinct types of pilot. Scheffe’s post hoc statistical results support two of these three hypotheses, i.e. teamwork conflict and the handling of crises. The implications of these findings for management and training are discussed further.

Citation

Liao, W. and Tsai, C. (2001), "A study of cockpit crew teamwork behaviors", Team Performance Management, Vol. 7 No. 1/2, pp. 21-27. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527590110389574