Second officer is acivil aviation rank, also known asjunior first officer. It is used for pilots at an early stage of their career.[1]
Modern airliners require only two pilots: the captain and thefirst officer.[2] 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. Asafety pilot will sit in thejump seat to monitor the junior first officer and the captain.[3][4]
In some airlines, a second officer is not permitted to take off or land the aircraft, and will only fly the aircraft during thecruise. In such cases they are also known as "cruise pilots" or "cruise relief pilots".[5][6]
AtSingapore Airlines andScoot, second officers are usually promoted to first officer after 5-8 months.[1] InRyanair UK, pilots are promoted from second officer to junior first officer when they achieve 500 hours offlight time.[7]
Airlines which use the title "second officer" include:
Historically, the second officer was theflight engineer. This is a trained pilot who does not fly the aircraft, but instead monitors aircraft systems.[16] Modern airliners only require two pilots, and do not have a flight engineer or anavigator.[2]