CRM
Crew Resource Management — the training in communication, decision-making and assertiveness that lets a crew work as one team.
Definition
CRM is Crew Resource Management, the discipline of using all the people, information and equipment available to a crew to operate safely. It grew out of accident investigations in the late 1970s that found technically competent crews failing through poor communication and hierarchy. Cabin crew CRM covers speaking up to a captain, situational awareness, workload and stress, and it is mandatory in both initial and recurrent training under EASA and FAA rules. It has nothing to do with customer relationship management.
What it means for you
CRM is why the pre-flight briefing includes the pilots, why you are expected to challenge a decision you think is wrong and why the assessment day's group exercise exists at all — recruiters are watching for it. Practically it is how you tell a captain that the wing looks wrong, how a purser divides a medical emergency between six people, and how a crew that met an hour ago runs an evacuation.
In practice
In a joint CRM session at recurrent training, a Lufthansa crew and two pilots work through a scenario in which a junior crew member has to interrupt a busy flight deck to report ice on the wing before take-off.
Go deeper
Related terms
4 terms- Pre-flight briefingSafety & trainingThe meeting at sign-on where the senior crew member assigns positions, reviews the flight and tests SEP knowledge.
- Sterile cockpitSafety & trainingThe rule that bans non-safety contact with the flight deck in critical phases of flight — taxi, take-off, landing and below 10,000 ft.
- CaptainRoles & ranksThe pilot in command, legally responsible for the aircraft, everyone on board and every operational decision.
- SEPSafety & trainingSafety and Emergency Procedures — the core safety syllabus every cabin crew member is trained and re-examined on.