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Olivier Rouchard

Olivier Rouchard

The Pilot Flying Controls the Plane. The Pilot Monitoring Manages the Flight — Here's Why That's the Harder Job

The Pilot Flying Controls the Plane. The Pilot Monitoring Manages the Flight — Here's Why That's the Harder Job

One pilot flies; the other manages the whole flight — and it is the harder job. Why the monitoring seat matters most, and how to take it in your own day.

Turn Every Day Into Data: The 3-Minute Debrief Pilots Run After Every Flight — So You Stop Repeating Mistakes and Start Improving on Purpose

Turn Every Day Into Data: The 3-Minute Debrief Pilots Run After Every Flight — So You Stop Repeating Mistakes and Start Improving on Purpose

Pilots debrief after every flight. Three questions, three minutes — turn every day into data so you stop repeating the same mistakes.

Don't Let Your Day Control You: The 10-Minute Briefing Pilots Run for Busy People

Don't Let Your Day Control You: The 10-Minute Briefing Pilots Run for Busy People

You've been up two hours and the day already runs you. Pilots brief before takeoff — mission, threats, Plan B. Run the same 10-minute brief.

For Anyone Who Works From Home: The Focus Rule Pilots Use Below 10,000 Feet

For Anyone Who Works From Home: The Focus Rule Pilots Use Below 10,000 Feet

Four minutes in, a ping, and your focus is gone. Pilots run a 'sterile cockpit' below 10,000 feet — no talk that isn't flying the plane.

IMSAFE Checklist - The Daily Check You Must Run Before You Get Out of Bed

IMSAFE Checklist - The Daily Check You Must Run Before You Get Out of Bed

A Bamboo Airways crew of two pilots and five cabin crew stand together on the tarmac in front of their aircraft before departure.

How I Got the A380, Lost It, and Woke Up to What Matters

Decision-Making

How I Got the A380, Lost It, and Woke Up to What Matters

I chased the A380, got it, and lost it months later. Shiny Jet Syndrome — the trap of chasing the next rating instead of what matters.

Why Pilots Can Focus for 8 Hours and You Cannot Focus for 8 Minutes

Why Pilots Can Focus for 8 Hours and You Cannot Focus for 8 Minutes

Same brain, different room. Pilots focus for 8 hours because the cockpit has no dopamine triggers. Your phone is engineered to steal them.

The World Traveller Who Cannot Visit the Forbidden City

The World Traveller Who Cannot Visit the Forbidden City

200 metres from the Forbidden City, I say no to the tour. Tonight I fly 305 lives. The nap protects the flight. Fatigue runs in a chain.

Aviate, Navigate, Communicate: The 3-Step Rule for When Everything Hits at Once

Aviate, Navigate, Communicate: The 3-Step Rule for When Everything Hits at Once

When everything hits at once, pilots don't start with the loudest problem. Aviate, Navigate, Communicate — the order that keeps you flying.

Wardrobe Question: D.O.D.A.R - A Cockpit Trick for Your first decision of the day

Decision-Making

Wardrobe Question: D.O.D.A.R - A Cockpit Trick for Your first decision of the day

Pilots run a 5-step model — Diagnose, Options, Decide, Assign, Review — on every call. Use D.O.D.A.R on the first decision you face each day.

3 Nationalities. 1 Cockpit. Zero Confusion!

Teamwork & Communication

3 Nationalities. 1 Cockpit. Zero Confusion!

A Mexican, a Vietnamese and a Frenchman share one cockpit and never misread each other. The system, not the culture, does the talking.

The Magic of SOPs, or How 2 Strangers Fly 305 Lives Across the World

The Magic of SOPs, or How 2 Strangers Fly 305 Lives Across the World

Two pilots who've never met fly 305 people across the world before breakfast. They don't trust each other — they trust the procedure. That's the system.