Research Doesn’t Back Conclusions
On Feb. 7, you published an article by Joel Greenberg titled “The Overly Friendly Skies,” which relied on research we conducted. He erroneously concluded that co-pilots are too timid when criticizing a captain and, therefore, should all undergo assertiveness training. Greenberg’s conclusions are very much his own and are not substantiated by our research. He also misrepresents our work. In particular, Greenberg errs on five points:
1. If Greenberg had consulted our published work or had talked with us, he would have learned that we use the term “hint” in a specific linguistic sense. It refers to a problem or goal statement that implies rather than explicitly mentions what action is requested of someone. “Hints” in our data set are statements like “You are 15 knots too slow.” Statements like this have absolutely nothing in common with sugarcoating, as Greenberg suggests in an effort to be entertaining.
2. We report that co-pilots from the United States predominantly use “hints” (38% of the time). But we also report that they use other strategies, too, including direct requests, such as commands.
3. Greenberg fails to mention that our research examines pilots’ initial reactions to errors and oversights made by a colleague. We found that co-pilots initially prefer indirect requests (such as “hints”). However, our research does not support any claims concerning subsequent behavior. There is absolutely no basis to conclude that co-pilots will continue to use indirect requests if their initial request for captain action is unsuccessful. Indeed, there is ample data to suspect otherwise. We found that co-pilots used direct requests in proportion to the degree of perceived risk in the situation.
4. Crew failures to monitor and challenge each other’s actions have contributed to several aircraft accidents (National Transportation Safety Board, 1994). That is why research such as ours is conducted. However, Greenberg’s suggestion that pilots inevitably jeopardize flight safety whenever they use hints is unwarranted. Statements such as “You are 15 knots too slow” are often sufficient to get the captain to increase the approach speed. Ordering the captain to do so, on the other hand, may be unwarranted by the situation and may actually interfere with the safe operation of the airplane by inducing annoyance at the socially inappropriate behavior of the co-pilot, and thus disrupting crew harmony.
5. Since any request strategy (direct or indirect) has advantages and disadvantages, there is no single best strategy. In proclaiming that “this behavior has to stop,” Greenberg is simply wrong. The effectiveness of a strategy depends on the situation in which it is used. Which strategy is most effective in which situation is an empirical question that we are currently addressing.
In closing, we would like to note that our research involved several U.S. and foreign carriers whose names we have not disclosed. Greenberg’s reference to a particular U.S. airline is solely his invention. It should not be taken to imply that any particular carrier participated in our studies.
UTE FISCHER
and JUDITH ORASANU
Georgia Institute of Technology
