Second officer is a

civil aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, which can be both private and commercial. Most countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and ...

rank, also known as junior first officer. It is used for pilots at an early stage of their career.

Role

Modern airliners only require two pilots, the captain and the first officer. Before a pilot is fully qualified to operate as first officer, they will typically act as a second officer, sitting in the right hand seat, while undergoing training and supervision from a training captain. A

safety pilot In aviation, a safety pilot is used during pilot training. Instrument training During training for instrument flight under visual meteorological conditions, a safety pilot is a pilot who helps maintain visual separation from other aircraft, cl ...

will sit in the

jump seat A jump seat (sometimes spelled jumpseat) is an auxiliary seat in an automobile, train or aircraft, typically folding or spring-loaded to collapse out of the way when not used. The term originated in the United States c. 1860 for a movable car ...

to monitor the junior first officer and the captain. In some airlines, a second officer is not permitted to take off or land the aircraft, and will only fly the aircraft during the cruise. In such cases they are also known as "cruise pilots" or "cruise relief pilots". At

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Changi Airport. Considered to be one of the world's best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline as well as ranked ...

and

Scoot Scoot Pte Ltd, operating as Scoot, is a low-cost airline based in Singapore and a subsidiary of the country's flag carrier Singapore Airlines. It began its operations on 4 June 2012 on medium and long-haul routes from Singapore, predominantly t ...

, second officers are usually promoted to first officer after 5-8 months. In

Ryanair UK Ryanair UK is a British low-cost airline. The airline is the UK subsidiary of the Low-cost carrier, low-cost Irish airline group Ryanair Holdings and a sister airline to Ryanair, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz and Malta Air. It commenced operations in Mar ...

, pilots are promoted from second officer to junior first officer when they achieve 500 hours of

flight time Flight time or block time is an aviation term referring to the total amount of time spent piloting aircraft, and serves as the primary measure of a pilot's experience. Flight time is defined by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as ...

Usage

Airlines which use the title "second officer" include: *

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 28 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily within the Pacific Rim. The airline h ...

Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, or simply Cathay Pacific, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main airline hub, hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and its subsidiaries have schedule ...

China Eastern Airlines China Eastern Airlines (branded as China Eastern) is a major airline in China, headquartered in Changning, Shanghai, Changning, Shanghai. It is one of the three major airlines in the country, along with Air China and China Southern Airlines. ...

* Jet2.com * KLMKLM Cockpit crew
KLM Retrieved 4 June 2023. *

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

Volotea Volotea () is a Spanish low-cost airline registered in Castrillón and headquartered in Barcelona. History Foundation and early years Volotea was established by Alaeo S.L. from Barcelona, a company created by former Vueling founders, Carlo ...

Historically, the second officer was the

flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is a member of an aircraft's flight crew who is responsible for monitoring and operating its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referr ...

. This is a trained pilot who does not fly the aircraft, but instead monitors aircraft systems.Harris, Tom
How Airline Crews Work
HowStuffWorks.com website, 14 June 2001. Retrieved 2 September 2014. Modern airliners only require two pilots, and do not have a flight engineer or a

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...

References

{{commercial air travel, state=collapsed Occupations in aviation

Role

Usage

See also

References