can an airline CEO sit in the cockpit of an airliner?

[Clothahump]

@Velocity

Can an airline CEO (a non-pilot) take a fun flight ride sitting in the airliner cockpit as other pilots fly it on a normal flight route (an airliner that his company owns,) or is that illegal?

Does the CEO like gladiator movies?

[Leo_Bloom]

@Horatio_Hellpop

Orville Wright had been a CEO of the Wright Company until 1916 and sat on a lot of aviation boards until his death in 1948, and Eddie Rickenbacker was the leader (President? CEO?) of Eastern Airlines until 1959, and I suspect neither was licensed to fly a commercial airliner. I’d love to meet a pilot ballsy enough to kick either of them out of a cockpit, though!

Orville Wright–when did he get any license?

Maybe he applied and was turned down because of a previous infraction, a flight which was photographed, luckily, so he can’t say it didn’t happen, and he was probably flying without a license.

1. In current times, how do people get caught flying w/o a license? Do they even try? It’s not like they might get pulled or might not, and be spot-checked.

2. Is flying without a license a felony?