Workload management and task shedding

A busy arrival is a workload problem before it is a flying problem — sort the tasks, or they will sort you.

The idea

When the pace picks up, two things save you: a priority order and the discipline to shed what can wait. The order is , navigate, communicate — fly the aircraft first, know where you’re going second, talk third. Anything below that can be deferred.

The trap is going “heads-down” together. The moment both pilots bury their heads in the box or the charts, no one is watching the aeroplane — and that is exactly when a callout gets missed. Redistribute out loud, and keep one pilot’s eyes up.

Assign the arrival · then fly it and watch the monitoring

The pilot flying (PF) keeps flying — give the heads-down jobs to the pilot monitoring (PM), and shed what can wait to cruise or after landing.

PF load

—

PM load

—

Arrival result

Not flown yet — assign the tasks and press play.

Every task below has to happen in the next eight minutes. Give the heads-down ones to the pilot monitoring, shed what can wait, then fly it and see whether the monitoring stays covered.

How it works

Two rules do the work. Keep the pilot flying flying (aviate first), and never let both pilots be heads-down at the same moment. Here is the arrival, sorted the clean way:

Priority order:  aviate > navigate > communicate  (shed below the line)

min-to-land   task                     put it on      why
   7-6        reprogram the FMS        PM (heads-down)  navigate; PF keeps flying
   7-6        copy the new ATIS        shed            can re-copy in a lull
    5         read back the clearance  PM              communicate, quick
   4-3        brief the approach       PM (heads-down)  navigate
    4         cabin PA to passengers   shed            below the line, defer
    2         run the landing check    PM (heads-down)  PF confirms, eyes up

Result:  PF is heads-up the whole arrival -> all three callouts made.
Put a heads-down job on the PF and it collides with the flying:
   FMS on PF + ATIS on PM  ->  both heads-down at min 6
   -> the "1,000 ft to level-off" callout is missed.

When to use it

Shed or redistribute when…	The trade-off
Both load bars are climbing and tasks are stacking up.	Shedding means someone must actually pick the task back up later — say when, out loud.
A task would put the flying pilot heads-down.	Hand it to the PM, or transfer control first — never just look down and hope.
A request is below the line (cabin PA, company call, paperwork).	Deferring a passenger update feels rude; a missed level-off is worse.

Watch out for

Both heads-down at once. Two pilots reprogramming the box or reading charts together is the classic set-up for a missed altitude or a track deviation. One set of eyes stays up, always.
Silent redistribution. Quietly grabbing a task the other pilot expected to do creates gaps and duplicates. Hand off explicitly: “I have the radios, you fly and monitor.”
Refusing to shed. Trying to complete every item in a compressed arrival saturates you; the low-priority task you protected pushes out a high-priority one you needed.
Task fixation. Sinking three minutes into a fault or a reroute while the aircraft flies through its level-off. Park it, fly first, come back.
Loading the flying pilot. The PF’s hands and eyes belong to the aeroplane. Pile head-down work on them and aviate quietly loses.

Worked example

An interviewer asks: “Short notice runway change on a busy arrival — walk me through it.” A strong answer sequences by priority out loud: “I’m the PF, so I keep flying and hand the reprogramming to the PM — ‘you take the box and the new brief, I’ll fly and back you up.’ The cabin PA and the fresh ATIS can wait for a quieter moment, so I shed them. I keep my eyes out for the level-off and the glidepath so the callouts still get made.” That answer shows the two things an examiner is listening for: an explicit redistribution, and a refusal to let both pilots go heads-down when the monitoring matters most.

Check yourself

On short final the approach controller asks for a company frequency check-in while you’re configuring for landing. What’s the priority-order move?

A late reroute needs the box reprogrammed. You’re the pilot flying. Best call?