Originally Posted by
SpecialTracking
I did find the class somewhat beneficial. I think it's important to have FO's involved and not just senior Captains since they can relate timely bonehead moves that many of us have made. The more perspective, the better.
There is a big push to have some "mentoring" going on due to the juniority of the pilot group, relative inexperience, rapid hiring, and growth. This is a talking point of management and ALPA safety as well as the FAA. As a matter of fact the FAA increases observation time when certain "markers" appear that warrant increased scrutiny.
Yes, a Fo can relate a bonehead move. Not sure how more timely it would be or it would not be. Not sure timeliness is relevant.
Both ALPA and the airline want Captains to do more mentoring. The person who should initiate the debrief, if one is done should be the Captain. He/she may not, but that is the way it should be done. If he/she fails to do so, a well meaning FO, doing it the right way can do a stand up job.
The point is, if we want our Captains to act like Captains, then they need to be seen and heard doing their job. An FO is a Captain in training. That isn't a bad thing, that's just the way it is.
Management has said numerous times when asked the number one reason the training realm is dominated by FO's is because it's cheap labor.
The lack of experience in the training department is telling. Heck, I have seen a 14 month FO involved in pilot hiring. It's crazy. Just plain nuts.
We should get away from checking the box and filling the square. We should also do a better job of teaching the debriefing skills to our Captains, and this is better done and better received by Captains.
Yes, an FO, or a whatever can read a slide and stay on script. That's not the point. I have heard it said many times. All I needed was a 10 minute talk about debriefs and another 10 minutes on professionalism and that would have been all I needed. Why the entire day? The retention rate on this class wasn't that great (like most of our training). Some good time spent, but lots of wasted time.
The Greg Hart and Tom Stivala dog and pony show was the cake-topper. That was awesome. Greg doesn't know the answer, and Tom says he'll email you an answer next week. Talk about credibility....
A Captain should have been presenting and moreover he/she should have been the lead facilitator. Just like it says on the PA. The aircraft is under Command of Captain Joe and assisting him is FO Sue.