Originally Posted by
BStill
Former military pilot here, with a couple of years of commercial and Part 121 experience until I opted to make my 9/11 furlough permanent. So a long time away from the industry, now learning, hoping to return for one last encore career change.
Apart from the important stuff like pay, work rules, flow, QoL, etc...., how do the training departments compare across the Regionals? Which carriers have a good reputation of professional pilot-centric training programs? And which are known for the opposite?
Thanks!
Based on personal experience, friends' experience, and lurking the posts on these forums, I know this for a fact:
Fantastic training departments:
United, Frontier, Mesa, Endeavor, Republic, Piedmont, ABX Air, Omni Air, Air Transport International
Horrible training departments:
PSA (believe me on this one, this I know for a fact). Air Wisconsin.
Questionable training departments (some say its alright, some others say its bad, its 50/50... I've heard of guys with prior regional 121 jet experience fail initial checkride, so)
Spirit
What makes a training department great is:
-How organized they are... do they give you everything you need right away. Is the material well organized, and presented good visually and easy to understand? do they give you a syllabus? or throw a bunch of crap out you and expect you to spend days and days deciphering it.
-The quality of instruction... does the instructor just speak in a monotone voice during ground school with death by powerpoint? or are they funny, engaging, keep you awake, encourage you to ask questions, gets everyone to participate, and has a "no-one-gets-left-behind" attitude towards the students
-How many instructors you are given throughout your training
-Family feel Vs. Just a number over there
-Class size... smaller is ALWAYS better. Everyone becomes friends and helps each other out. Everyone knows Everyone. class size of 30+ is NOT the way to go.
-Communication by email, if the training department solves any issues you have or if they ignore your emails
-Simulator availability... will you lose proficiency waiting months for a sim
-Does any one APD have a history of being douchee in the company?