Omni is not a career airline and treats you that way. I came to Omni when they only had 2 B757s (I was given the choice of either platform; chose B757 best decision I ever made). There was a lot of tension between the DC-10 crowd and the B757 crowd. And there still is between the B767 and B777 fleets! Omni was a DC-10 airline and always will be. A lot of senior pilots did not want the union there because it stopped their back door deals with scheduling and now they had to follow the contract.
The FO/ initial type training I went thru was really good, awesome ground and sim instructors! But it was pre-contract. Later when I went thru B767 Captain upgrade the ground school was a toss up on who you got. The ground school suffered when it was taught by the two individuals that did not have any experience on the plane. Nothing against these guys (they are great guys), they did the best they could with the tools Omni had given them. They just didn't know how Omni operated the plane on the road. Several questions had to be sent to the Flt Mngr TK to get answered.
I never sat thru the B777 ground school. But I can tell you that when we parked the DC-10 and all those pilots transitioned the wash out rate was 48% and several pilots that had passed Boeing 777 training did not pass PC/PT when Omni started their own B777 training. The B767 program is lucky because Omni was able to hire several ATA B757 check airman and instructors. The B777 program not so much. There are so good guys over there but the are some real losers there too. Some drank so much Kool-Aid that they have turned in their fellow pilots to management instead of using pro-standards trying to get them fired. Even though there are pilots that I look up to on the B777 I would avoid that plane like it has the plague!
When I was the chairman of the Training Review Board the biggest reason pilots did make it thru was the FMS and the automation. The training is tuff and a lot is put on you! You need to put the time in chair flying in front of a paper panel. I was told recently (with in the last month) that about 25% on the new hires are not making it thru. This came from both instructors and Tulsa folks I have talked to. I think the Director of Training is good guy as well as the new Fleet Manager.
The reason the FEDs don't get involved is because these pilots never make it to the check ride so there is no an official busted check ride. PRIA is the only place it will be noted.
Omni is a good place to get wide body international experience but expect to be treated as a second class citizen there with crappy pay and benefits!
Last edited by brn2fly1; 02-14-2016 at 10:35 PM.