I have not seen any data....
>The only data I can find related to this pejorative label "boomerang" are
>attitude/perception data related to what the pilot thinks about CRM. After
>reading some of the end of training critiques about the nonsense that some
>of these crew members have endured in the name of "CRM Training", I can
>fully understand decrements in their attitudes about CRM. However, I think
>we are making a huge mistake by affixing a negative label "boomerang" to
>pilots who speak or rate honestly about their discontent with CRM. I have
>flown with pilots who are vocal about their discontent with how CRM
>training is being done, yet they are perhaps some of the best CRM
>performers in the jet. I think we are making an equally large mistake if
>we assume that a decrement in attitude = a decrement in performance.
Many of the "old troops" are leaving or have left. In many cases, it was "MY
AIRPLANE" and there was no question about who was supposed to do what. As
one guy said, "This is resource management.. I am management and you are the
resource.." and it went downhill from there.
There is still plenty of guys/gals who apparently feel that any question
about the decisions or direction is insubordination or a challenge. Whether
this is a boomerang, having had training and coming out worse or having
training and it making no difference, is subject to opinion.
In talking to F/Os, I still hear plenty of stories where guys still think
each flight is either a moon shot or "going downtown" and the cockpit is a
rigid, cold, non-communicative environment. Others tell me stories of
everything running smoothly as long as things run smoothly but let problems
arise and it becomes a real show..
Of course, there is the other side... I occasionally run into F/Os who do
things without communicating, who make decisions without any discussion....
I have to agree, however, that CRM has become a catchword and anyone who
doesn't use the code words is subject to close scrutiny. I have to often
think of those guys who I grew up under.. the B-17 pilots from WWII who had
a crew of 10 and were able to get things done in terrible circumstances...
and never knew anything about CRM but did it..... and when some young guy
waltzes in with a ton of charts, a few games and tells them "this is the way
to run a crew", one has to wonder why more didn't reject it...
My initial experiences with CRM back in the late 80s was not good... and
from subsequent courses, I can say at best it has been spotty as definitions
change, programs change and the target keeps moving....