This may be an established routine, but I never noticed it until this week.

On 10-28-01 I was flying PDX to MSP on NW. During the flight, one of the flight crew came out of the cockpit. A FA from Y class came scooting past me (I was in F) and went straight into the cockpit and closed the door behind her. The pilot used the WC, hung around the galley, and did some chatting with the other FAs. After about ten minutes, the pilot reentered the cockpit and the FA left the cockpit. As she walked back down the aisle, I asked her if she was getting some flight hours in on 757s. She replied that if a flight crew member wanted to leave the cockpit, a FA had to swap places and stay in the cockpit until the flight crew member returned. I thought it odd that a FA from Y came up when there were two FAs in F, much closer to the cockpit. I did not, however, ask her about this.

I wonder if this is to help guard the cockpit from attack or is a pre-September practice to have someone in the cockpit in case the remaining pilot has a heart attack or something.

Edited to try for some clarity


[This message has been edited by Shinkansen (edited 10-29-2001).]