What is this?

Crew Briefing will be the home for regular posts, podcasts, photos, reader-mail, guest essays, and other dispatches from Captain Kris Pierson, airline check pilot and author— that’s me.

I have been an airline pilot for over two decades and have 15,000+ hours of flight experience. I currently serve as a Line Check Pilot for a major US carrier, instructing new hires on the flight line and training pilots who are “upgrading” from First Officer to Captain.

That upgrade to Captain was something I was interested in helping pilots do better when I wrote Pilots In Command: Your Best Trip, Every Trip, which was first published in 2014. I published the third edition of the book in 2022.

Pilots In Command was penned at the same time lawmakers pushed to ensure that airline pilots were required to have the same access to leadership training, and mentorship that other high-function professionals (healthcare workers, lawyers, engineers, etc) have. We call this focus on leadership, professionalism, mentorship, and airmanship Pilot Professional Development (PPD), and the Federal Aviation Regulations require this focus in training for all passenger airline pilots.

PPD is where my passion and focus is alongside my flying career, and PPD will play a central role for much of the content you will find here.

Why subscribe?

The TL:DR on subscribing is simple — when you subscribe you get notified whenever I post to Crew Briefing because the post lands directly into your inbox.

For now, subscriptions and posts will be free. Eventually I will offer paid options, with special features that I will detail later on. Your (free) support and interest matter, as we build a community of readers and supporters. That’s why I ask you please to subscribe.