99.9 percent sure I work at the same airline as Ghillis....
AQP can def be failed
Overall AQP can be a good thing
I recently changed fleet types and went thru our recently FAA certified AQP Full Qual course it was laid out as such
5 days Home study..... i.e., 18 CBTs to complete and submit testing for
Week 1
Days 1-3, 4 hour in the morning in classroom, 4 hours in afternoon in FTD or SIM with GS instructor called "system Integration"
Day 4- 2 Hour one on one Oral exam with check airman, NOT open book
Day 5 - misc req videos and door and emergency equip training
Weekend off
Week 2
Days 1-4, 4 hour FTD sessions with instructor major emphasis on checklist usage, flows, profiles etc...
Day 5 is a PV = Procedures Validation given by check airman
Weekend off
Week 3
Days 1-4, 4 hours SIM sessions with instructor, all the normal stuff, V1 or V2 cuts, EPs, approaches, etc...
Day 5 is a MV = Manuevers Validation (like an old style PC)
Weekend Off
Week 4
Day 1 - Flight Operations Brief , various req topics, Bulletins, emphasis areas, etc, 8 hours in classroom
Day 2, 3 and 4 are LOFT sessions treated as real flights with all the paperwork and required company and ATC calls etc... various issues will arise
Day 5 is a LOE (Line Oriented Evaluation) - Basically a graded LOFT and the end of which your type certificate is issued.
Of note: FOs are fully PIC typed, Nearly all of the FO training is done from the right seat EXCEPT you must do a graded V1 cut from the left seat and taxi the aircraft from the left seat AND LOFT 2 the FO acts as PIC and flys the entire sim session from the left seat. The only eval that is a "pink" is the final LOE, but other validation or eval failures are still considered for internal purposes training failures.
Its an ongoing process which has potential.