First officer (aeronautics)

In commercial aviation, the first officer is the second pilot (also referred to as the co-pilot) of an aircraft. The first officer is second-in-command of the aircraft to the captain, who is the legal commander. In the event of incapacitation of the captain, the first officer will assume command of the aircraft.

Control of the aircraft is normally shared equally between the first officer and the captain, with one pilot normally designated the "pilot flying" (PF) and the other the "pilot not flying" (PNF), or "pilot monitoring" (PM), for each flight. Even when the first officer is the flying pilot, however, the captain remains ultimately responsible for the aircraft, its passengers, and the crew. In typical day-to-day operations, the essential job tasks remain fairly equal.

Many airlines promote by seniority only within their own company. As a consequence, an airline first officer may be older and/or have more flight experience than a captain, by virtue of having experience from other airlines or the military. Traditionally, the first officer sits on the right-hand side of a fixed-wing aircraft ("right seat") and the left-hand side of a helicopter (the reason for this difference is related to the fact that in many cases the pilot flying is unable to release his right hand from the cyclic control to operate the instruments, thus he sits on the right side and does that with his left hand). Other airlines may designate the more senior of two first officers operating a long-haul sector together with a captain in an enlarged crew as the senior first officer. He will then sit in the left seat when the captain takes his rest.

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Latest News for: copilot

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Consumers Aren't Flocking to Microsoft's AI Tool 'Copilot'

Slashdot 27 Apr 2025
Microsoft Copilot "isn't doing as well as the company would like," reports XDA-Developers.com (citing a report from startup/VC industry site Newcomer) ... It's not a huge surprise that Copilot is faltering.
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I retested Microsoft Copilot's AI coding skills in 2025 and now it's got serious game

ZDNet 25 Apr 2025
Copilot's early coding days were all swing and miss. But now? It's hitting line drives and running the bases with confidence. See for yourself ... .
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Microsoft adds three new AI features to Copilot+ PCs - including the controversial Recall

ZDNet 25 Apr 2025
Here's when you can expect to see the new AI tools in Windows and what you can do with them ... .
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Copilot Plus PCs Are Getting That AI Recall Feature for Real Now

CNET 25 Apr 2025
Microsoft is also adding more intuitive search to Windows and shortcuts for summarizing and rewriting text ... .
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Copilot+ PCs add more AI features that empower you every day (Microsoft Corporation)

Public Technologies 25 Apr 2025
... (preview), Click To Do (preview) and improved Windows Search across Copilot+ PCs.1 Copilot+ PCs have blazed a trail in personal computing, redefining what it means to be a [...].
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It seems like most Windows users don't care for Copilot

Engadget 25 Apr 2025
Copilot, Microsoft's AI assistant, appears to be struggling to match its competition in terms of popularity. The number of people using Copilot has remained around 20 million weekly users for the last ...
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Windows Copilot promises to chill out when you tap the key

PC World 25 Apr 2025
Microsoft has two Copilot experiences ... If you have a Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise PC with a Copilot key, and the Copilot key is mapped to the full Microsoft 365 Copilot app, you’ll see this behavior change, too, as part of a Windows update.
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Microsoft is trying to simplify how it sells Copilot AI offerings, internal slides reveal

Business Insider 25 Apr 2025
AI Business Solutions will include tools such as Copilot for Microsoft 365, Copilot for Teams, Copilot for Outlook, plus a data visualization product called Power BI, according to a person who attended a Thursday all-hands for Althoff's organization.
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Microsoft launches Recall and AI-powered Windows search for Copilot Plus PCs

The Verge 25 Apr 2025
We knew Microsoft was about to launch Recall for real this time, and now the software maker is making it available to all Copilot Plus PCs ... Alongside Recall, Windows search is also getting some AI improvements on Copilot Plus PCs today.
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Microsoft's Recall and improved Windows search start rolling out to Copilot+ AI PCs today

Engadget 25 Apr 2025
Almost a year since Microsoft announced its controversial Recall feature, and after several delays, the company has finally started bringing it to Copilot+ AI PCs today ... Like all of the Copilot+ ...
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Windows Recall is too risky for your Copilot+ PC. Turn it off, now

PC World 25 Apr 2025
Recall is just one of several new features that either have or will be arriving on Copilot+ PC, Microsoft said Friday ... But even if you want to use Recall, it’s only available to Copilot+ PCs, which are a tiny subset of the available PCs on the market.
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Microsoft rolls Windows Recall out to the public nearly a year after announcing it

Ars Technica 25 Apr 2025
Only available on Copilot+ PCs, a subset of Windows 11 systems sold within the last year or so, Recall takes continuous screenshots of everything you do on your PC, saving them, scraping text from ...
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