Your experience must have been different from mine, and I'll grant you my experience is somewhat limited based on the time I've been with the company. But I felt my training has been of a high quality to this point. Would I have liked more of it? Yes, but I think all airlines have cut back in this area over the years. A friend of mine with United just went through his initial training and was on OE just over 4 weeks after starting. I do agree, going to formal training without adequate time to prepare is not the best way to start with a new hire. Most get about two to three weeks to prepare, and I've read here that the contract mandates at least a week.