The Right Attitude©
Gary Palmer Nov 10 2023

The Right Attitude© Gary Palmer Nov 10 2023 Having the right attitude or mindset when you fly is important. We are taught about the five dangerous attitudes; Invulnerable, Anti-Authority, Macho, Impulsive, Resignation. The all have antidotes in case you catch yourself being a victim to them. What if you don’t? Can having the right attitude from the start help isolate you from these dangerous ones? I am here to say I believe it can, this article presents that Right Attitude.

The right attitude gives you permission to make mistakes and move on. It allows you to make changes to your plans, possibly at an annoyance to your passengers, during your flight. It allows you to do what’s needed to protect the safety of the flight without a concern about “saving face”. This is not a trick or a big secret, but I have never heard any instructor discuss it as a way to do the right thing. So here it is. For every single flight, plan and fly as if your family is on board. Wait, you say you heard that before? You quite probably have, but do you actually do that? The second part, which is critical, is part of the passenger briefing. Simply tell them that should you “identify anything which in your opinion can affect safety, you will take the safest action possible for everyones safety.” BOOM!

Now they can be complaining it takes so long, but you are flying safely. Your fuel burns faster than planned. The weather turns. You forgot to fill the fuel tanks and cannot complete without a fuel stop. All of this turns into a simple “Something changed, I’m going to land so we can safely assess or fill the tanks and then decide to continue or not.”

You are not faced with being the macho pilot flying through a storm, it would make them uncomfortable. Or the resigned pilot, because these people are counting on you. Not the impulsive pilot because sudden changes might make them feel something is wrong. Certainly not impervious because your family on board is not. And not anti-authority because it adds to their risk, or possibly your ability to ever fly again.

By planning and believing your family or loved ones are with you on the plane, and telling them your job is to keep them safe, you are telling all those dangerous attitudes to take a hike, they’re not welcome. In the extreme case, believe that you want everyone to live to enjoy another day, and thus you are doing what is needed for everyone’s safety… nothing to scare them, but allowing you to avoid many bad habits to include covering a concern.

Blue skies and favorable flights!