Originally Posted by
Timbo
. Well, 30 years ago all the sim instructors were Captains. Everything from that point to today's training ops were concessions made in small bites, in every contract, to 'save money' obviously. My last 777 recurrent training was given to me by a F/O who's seniority number was about 11,000.
Oh, we had real ground schools back then too, with real systems courses taught by mechanics who knew the systems inside and out. Today you get a CD and watch it at home. All those ground school instructors are gone. Same with the Ops Specs group. We had a day long class just on Ops. Specs taught by Mother Malone. Another concession to save the company money.
Wow, wasn't that easier than your first response to a simple question?
Originally Posted by
Southerner
I've never understood the fascination with having an instructor be very senior. Some of the worst instructors I've ever had were extremely senior, and some of the best very junior. What matters most is how good they are at teaching, not how long they happen to have been at a particular company.
I mostly agree with that, good instructors can come from all over the seniority list.
However, viewing through a different set of optics during negotiations, other things come into play.
If an instructor has to be able to hold CA, that means he's naturally senior. That means said CA will be offline most of his time. That means MORE CA's are needed to fly the line. IE; more upgrades. Which can shorten the life span of being an FO if so desired. It's not unlike the concept of having monthly credit caps for line pilots. If line pilots are only allowed to credit a certain amount a month and no more, it's means MORE staffing required. As in, MORE jobs.
As well as the paycheck that goes along with being a CA in the training center and the pay overrides, etc.