I work on the UK railways as a guard. Technically the train that I am working on is "my train". I can delay the train, cancel the train, decides who boards, ask people to leave and ensure that everyone on board acts in an appropriate manner.
However, I find increasingly that my decisions are questioned by management.
"Why was your train late?"
"Passenger X has complained that you told him to get off at Y station"
etc etc etc
I am interested to hear if Captains have the same problem. Have you made a decision, only for it to be questioned - or in the worse case scenario been disciplined.
Does you management generally leave you alone?
Individual stories would be welcome.
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- DescendVia
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RE: The Captain's Decision
| Quoting Goinv (Thread starter): Does you management generally leave you alone? |
They have to leave you alone if it was for a real issue since the capt has final authority. Now if he/she cancels the trip for say a missing coffee pot, then yeah there is sure to be a discussion.
RE: The Captain's Decision
| Quoting DescendVia (Reply 1): They have to leave you alone if it was for a real issue since the capt has final authority. |
The Captain has the authority to make various decisions, but he or she will have to be able to defend that decision to the Chief Pilot and other management personnel. For example, if you cancel a flight citing safety as the reason, you had better be able to articulate exactly what you thought was unsafe and why canceling the flight was the only practical alternative. Any other decision that costs any money must also be similarly defended. Even decisions made in an instant during an emergency will be dissected and second guessed by others who have had the benefit of days to consider. The Captain is anything but left alone.