We don't need pretend students. We need real students with real instructors with real evaluators helping the new instructors.
Maybe this is another kind of trial....Maybe it's another way for them to get more zero time bonanza pilots in the airline. I think that's really what's going on. Now, they may not be telling us this, because if they did, that would really tick off ALPA, but we can't be hood-winked by this sort of silliness.
They didn't seem to have a need to do this in years past when they brought on new instructors....Ask your self...what's new, what's different? The difference to me is the mindset of flight ops. They have no problem bringing in marginally and underqualified peeps. Now, they are going to get ALPA dues paying pilots to help negotiate the legs out from under us by giving up this so-called good deal to a select few.
No ALPA pilots should participate in this unless blessed, approved and authorized by our union. The company needs to come to ALPA and spell it out. Goals, objectives, reasons-rationale, etc. We've been training pilots for a long time. What's so special now that we need "pretend students.?"