Saucy Dingo

I for one can't wait to get started. Besides, the break between indoc and sims is just more time to enjoy reading the manuals and SOPs! Who wouldn't want that????

IFLYPC12

Easy solution. Don't fly CommutAir then. Use your pass rider access somewhere else. C5 will be just fine.

MikeC5

Long time lurker. After reading this thread, I had to post.
This is either first hand information, from speaking with instructors, or from speaking with pilots currently in these classes.
There is some misinformation here. Let's clear it up...

There is a bottleneck in training. It's huge. Some people appear to be lying in this thread. There were two classes in October. The true October class started October 3rd. That class has some pilots who are in GFS with sims scheduled in January. There are eight other pilots in that class who just finished systems and still do not have GFS scheduled and have no clue when simulators are going to be. They were literally told the company doesn't know when they'll be scheduled and to just stand by...
Why? According to one senior instructor, XJT agreed to C5 using their Houston simulator, and then backed out of the deal after C5 scheduled classes. Naturally, this has caused many problems.
However, none of this was told to any of the pilots in training. They are all clueless as to what's happening and have no schedule whatsoever for the coming year. The communication is abysmal.

Next, the dramatics. Well... the dramatics on this board pale in comparison to what has actually happened in class.
Last Friday, one of the company's two DE's came into class and went on a rant about the importance of staying off "internet boards" and that if anyone wanted to "b!tch about the training department, they should do it to him". He went on to say that it is a very professional training department...
Next, said DE began harassing one particular student for no apparent reason, yelling at him for looking at his phone etc while ignoring everyone else in class. The student had no idea why they were being singled out. This became more intense and heated. Finally, during a break, the DE went over the student and yelled, "Stay off the website!! Protect your career!"
.......
That happened.
The student shouted "What WEBSITE?!" and promptly left glass.
People's careers are on the line over what is anonymously posted here.

20 minutes later the DE returned, apologized for his demeanor and told the class that he had heard a rumor that this particular student posted that the training department was bad.

REAL professional. That's how C5 operates.

Someone in class got bent out of shape over a post on a forum and their reaction was to ruin someone's career, which the DE happily went along with. Think about that. THAT HAPPENED.

From what I have heard there are several pilots who have been on property for months without ID badges. There is no CASS/KCM until you complete your PC, which could take 6-7 months. There are growing pains, but this is far beyond that. There are serious issues that need to be addressed. Some people have posted that XJTs training was better... well, considering most of these instructors have almost no time on this airplane, and they literally just read slides, what do you expect?

Is it safe? Sure. It's safe enough, but they certainly aren't going above and beyond. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying, or has never worked anywhere else, which seem to be the people who get the most upset.

As for me... happy to be here, happy about the growth. However, I'll be watching my back, and looking for the next move sooner than later.

stratocoaster

Doesn't sound ideal, but, hopefully everyone in the bottleneck is on payroll, yes?

hslightnin

Yes @ min guarantee

Saucy Dingo

A 121 examiner harassing and threatening a random student in front of an entire class? Because he heard a rumor about an anonymous website?? If that story is true that is some disgusting behavior. That is the exact opposite type of atmosphere you want to create in the training environment. And he's one of only two DE's? I bet his half of the class can't wait for their checkrides. He obviously isn't being supervised properly if he feels so free to disrupt classes in such a way. That says tons about the entire department, I'm afraid.

I didn't realize there was such a long wait for CASS. That sucks but hey, paid time off never killed anyone. Hopefully more sims open up soon, they seem pretty far from taking more than 2 planes per month with so much backlog.

How do they keep dropping the ball with the sims? First I heard they lost one to PDT because they didn't rent it in time, and now you say they let XJT trip them up with their Houston sim... btw I chuckled a bit when I read that part. Could've seen that one coming!

MitsubishiPilot

Is that you 1457?

TimingANDluck

Ok so just like any regional, CommutAir has its training issues. They're growing quickly and inevitably there are some growing pains. That being said, this is my 3rd airline and I am in training right now, the training is no worse than any other airline and the regional issues are no better or worse than any other regional. So far what I can tell for sure is that the culture here is entirely different. The management is happy to have us here, they're easy going, adaptable and in general in the business of treating the employees properly. Without a doubt I can say that so far the culture seems to be a lot better than what I have seen in past. If that's not enough, anyone in my class that had at least the minimum hours to be a captain and wanted the dash was upgraded while in class and thus didn't even have to complete FO training whatsoever. When you combine all of these factors with the bonus and the guaranteed interview with United, what is there to complain about? A regional is a regional and it is what it is. This, in my opinion is as good as it gets and the training is without a doubt acceptable and they cover everything adequately or more. If you're here and think otherwise and think there's something better feel free to leave.

Duesenflieger

A DE harassing a student for looking at a phone is in the middle of class is not something that should be tolerated by any means and such behavior does not typically occur in regional ground training. If I were in that situation, I would leave faster than they could scratch my name off the roster.

backtoregionals

Here's a thought...don't post stupid stuff on here. If you aren't happy somewhere then just leave. It's simple. In a small company you are asking for trouble by posting negative stuff on here. I agree that DE shouldn't have done that, but either way don't post stuff on here you don't want them seeing.