Originally Posted by
ROCKETM8
Sounds like training is a fire house seat-of-your-pants affair. If you come positive and determined to grit your teeth and do it sounds like one might have as good a chance as any in the 74.
Now would anyone say that the training atmosphere in the 747 program is hostile? Are people setting you up? It's one thing to pass a difficult checkride, it's another to pass someone with agenda.
Thanks for any answers...
RK
I would not say that anyone is setting you up. They have made changes in MIA and it is certainly better that it used to be. They fired some of the worst offenders.
SA is the director of training, and he has made significant improvements such as the new computer training which is night and day better.
The problem is that the entire training program is not set up to handle pilots with no international and or heavy experience. They simply are not prepared or willing to spend the time and money necessary to train the type of pilots we are hiring now. We are seeing the results of this out on the line on a daily basis.
Atlas is not a beginners airline. Pilots are being released from OE without a North Atlantic crossing. Mistakes are being made that would have been unimaginable 5 years ago. Of course, the company blames the pilots for all of this...
My advice to any new hire is to purchase a quality active noise cancelling headset BEFORE you start OE! Read the ICAO Communications manual.
When you choose to become an international pilot, you have to follow the international rules. You sound like an unprofessional clown when you say things like "Giant 1234, 2 point 5 climbing to 9000."
In some ways, the flying we do is easier than what many regional guys are used to. We don't fly 4 legs a day, etc. Anyone with a good attitude and appropriate aptitude can fly the whale around the globe, but you have to know a lot of stuff that is not necessarily written in a book in order to do it safely and efficiently. Experience is purchased with time, effort, and exposure.