Old 02-06-2012, 08:24 AM
  #13  
LeineLodge
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Joined APC: Apr 2008
Position: DAL FO
Posts: 2,137
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Originally Posted by BTDTB4 View Post
Points taken ... but, if you will, can you say just what about your training today is better than the training you had prior to AQP - or, more appropriately - what does AQP offer/require that cannot be accomplished under the "traditional" programs?
I have trained at 4 different airlines using both methods. AQP is far superior because we don't have to spend time doing the vanilla maneuvers that we already know how to do. I won't hammer it too hard because the other guys have already covered it very well, but it's much more effective (read safer) in my opinion to use the data available (FOQA, ASAP, etc) to produce a tailored training program based on operational threats that DO exist for the specific airline/fleet as evidenced the the data collected from the REAL WORLD.

Another nice thing we've recently begun is targeting seasonal threats with our Quarterly recurrent training, via distance learning. That means every pilot will cover winter threats leading into winter, and summer threats leading into summer, in addition to the other stuff we receive. I remember doing recurrent an a different airline and reviewing Holdover tables and de-icing procedures in June, simply because the training program said we had to cover it. No pilot in that room was going to de-ice for at least another 4 months, and by then the info has been ram dumped.

Where I see a safety degradation is in self-teaching through distance learning during initial qualifications. In place of the "old way" where we received 2 weeks of systems ground school with a LIVE instructor, we now get to figure it out ourselves via CD's. See the whole cost vs. benefit discussion above for the reason this has come about. It saves the airlines a boatload of money, but I have personally felt much less prepared "right out of the box" as compared to initial qual courses where we had the full groundschool experience. JMHO.
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