Originally Posted by
Calabre
Hello,
It's been a rough year. I'll be as candid as possible, in hopes of receiving the most accurate feedback.
I've been employed at Republic Airways for over 6 years as an FO. I also fly for the Air National Guard. This has affected my progression to captain at Republic, partially because I took military leave for a couple years while I was activated, and partially because I find it challenging to stay current in two jets. It's affected my progression in both realms, really. I was told by my squadron commander that upgrading to PIC was basically off the table. So that obviously does not look good on the resume, to be the eternal co-pilot at the ANG.
So within the last year, I switched gears back to the airline, and returned to Republic to pursue upgrade there instead. I studied my ass off, and it was going well. I even made the comment that I don't know how people fail LOE's because everything is repeatable, and as long as you don't crash or exceed repeat attempts, how could you fail? Well, I guess karma hit me like a freight train, because I failed the LOE. In summary, it was a lack of confidence during the emergency procedure (second guessing decisions) and also he said taxiing was sloppy (I was taxiing like I taxi the C-17, which you pivot after the turn). So he said lets repeat those two things. We went through another emergency, and it went ok, now all that was left was taxiing and I'd be on my way. I was given taxi instructions etc etc hold short of G. I'm taxiing along, see G at the last second and slam on the brakes. Examiner said, your nose is sticking out onto G...sorry, you fail.
They gave me two review sims, but I lost my confidence and was noticeably rattled, so the decision was made to return me to the right seat, rather than sign me off for the LOE. I was devastated, but vowed to return as soon as possible, stronger than before.
...
Should I just give up? Is there a way forward? Is it time to switch careers? Any advice that would talk me off the ledge would be appreciated.
Well that is quite the first post. First off don't give up but so realize that lack of confidence is a major red flag for aircraft commanders both military and civilian. I believe you can gain it with more experience but that is obviously the overarching problem here.
I don't like the little gotcha with the bank angle. Maybe there is gouge about that you could have known if it's a common technique. It doesn't matter if you had a fair shake or not as far as moving forward with your career but perhaps the union can use it to save your job.
Keep flying, hopefully at Republic but certainly in the guard. Prove that you can learn confident decision making. The place to do that is in the right seat.