We've all been in those tricky situations where we have to share a desk/team or office space with a colleague who we don't exactly get along with. Disclaimer to current team: obviously none of you guys, you're great!
But imagine if you had to spend 12 hours sat within touching distance of someone you don't like in a tiny, tiny, locked space. That would be hell, right?
Which is why it is perhaps no surprise to hear that pilots have a system in place to prevent them from ever having to share a cockpit with one of their archnemesis (or any fellow pilots that they find mildly irritating).
According to The Telegraph, the secret system is called 'Do Not Pair' and it ensures that no two pilots with any kind of disagreement will ever have to work together on shift.
“Every 30 days, around the middle of the month, we bid our preferences for the following month: where we’d like to fly, which days we’d like off, and which insufferable colleagues we hope to avoid,” pilot Patrick Smith writes in his book Cockpit Confidential.
“What we actually end up with hinges on seniority. Senior pilots get the choicest pickings; juniors get whatever is left over.”
So basically, you want to rise up those ranks quickly if you want to get the best colleagues on your shift.
Jess Edwards is Cosmopolitan UK’s Deputy Editor, working to deliver the very best experiences across the brand's platforms (print, social, video, digital), products and events, including a focus on our membership offering, Club Cosmo. Jess has worked in the media industry for almost 20 years and at Cosmopolitan for over 10 years, joining the brand as Fashion Editor and later going on to lead the digital team as Site Editor. With her background in lifestyle journalism, it is no surprise that you’re most likely to find her in the Fashion section and exploring the very best in hospitality via our Travel pages.
