From above: Right at the moment I’m not going to get into recurrent classroom subjects vs. “distance learning,” or some other alternative, but looking strictly at flight training ... what if there were 2 flight training sessions, one each on 2 consecutive days ... where one of the sessions looked at the vanilla tasks – perhaps some of them with some twists (with tail winds or with some interesting configuration anomaly) and the other one devoted to the kinds of things that may be brought to light from pilot comments or some FOQA data source – where each pilot would get something close to 2 hours at the controls each of the 2 days?
That is exactly what we do now at Delta. Our recurrent is 2 consecutive days, 4 hours in the box each day, but each sim session starts with a 90 minute briefing on what we are going to do in the box, and some schooling on what's the hot toppics of the day, then we go do it. As mentioned above, they will always throw in a couple "First Look" maneuvers just to see what happens, they are using these manuevers to collect data, see where the weakness' are, and train accordingly. Then we debrief for 30 minutes (or more) afterwards.
We do all the FAA required manuevers, all the required approaches, the NP, GPS, PRM, VOR/NDB, ILS, etc. with missed approaches, and engine outs, V1 cuts, etc. and every fleet has to do that same stuff. Also stalls and windshear, aborted take offs, etc. When that's done, we take a break, then we do a "Line Oriented Training" event, where you do everything you would on a normal flight.
On this training event, you start from getting in the jet just like you would on the line. You check the log book, might be a write up you have to get signed off, or a procedure you need to comply with (1 pack out for example) then preflighting the cockpit, load the FMS, brief the Flight Attendant (for this you brief the IP, who when playing the F/A role, usually goes by 'Peter in the Rear') then you run checklists, pushback, start, taxi out, take off, fly the SID, everything you would do on a "normal" flight, to a real destination for your specific aircraft.
Then the fun begins. At some point in the flight a situation develops, could be a mechanical, like flaps won't retract past 5. Or it might be a pax issue, a heart attack, the Doctor on board says LAND NOW! But you are overweight, must dump gas, etc. Then the two of you deal with it, all the way to a landing, but the weather is crap, and the ILS is out...so you deal with it, real time, until you are on the ground and the parking brake is set, but then you might have to do an evacuation too...
It's all run in real time, start to finish. Then you get critiqued. They will also film it sometimes, and you get to watch yourself in the de-brief. Great fun that!
One thing I will say, every IP I've ever had, in every airplane I've flown at DL (727, MD-88, 757-767, MD11, 777) before we get out of the box, has ALWAYS asked us, "Is there anything else you guys want to see?"
And a few times I have said, "Yeah, I'd like to see This and That." They will happily stay as long as you want to stay there...until the next IP calls him on the sim phone and says, "Hey, it's OUR TIME NOW!"
I don't know what they are doing at other airlines, but I've got no complaints with what we are doing at the D. And any time I've wanted to see something unusual, they always take the time to do it until we are both happy. I have never felt the crush of Saving Money at DL, when it comes to recurrent training, but I have heard it exists at some other operations.
Where we have seen a huge cutback, as mentioned above, is in Initial training, ever since they got rid of the ground school systems instructors and put it all on a CD for you to watch at home. I don't like that part at all. That is 100% about saving money. I have a very hard time studying at home, where my kids are going in and out, the wife is yacking at me, the dogs are barking, the phone is ringing, and there's nobody to ask for clarification if there's a question about something on the CD. Too many distractions and the pace of the CD puts me to sleep.