Interview sims are a joke. Throwing someone in a sim, particularly in an airplane/sim they have no time in, doesn't reveal secret pilot potential. All it does is prove who got the gouge or possibly who is having a good day getting lucky flying a new jet they have zero hours in. Mostly who got the gouge.

FWIW DL supposedly has had very good luck with the generic cog tests they use in lieu of a sim. I don't think there is any tangibile benefit to using them…unless you own the sim and can rent spare capacity to interview prep companies...

Put your post into context ... replace C2015 with C2000 and 2016 with 2001.

Things were pretty bright in 2000. Not so much by 2002. The lesson we should have learned is that you plan your scope for worst case contingencies, because it is when the worst case hits that your structures will be tested under the most stress.

Besides, if it is protection we do not need, then it should cost nothing to get, right?

Yeah, pay for training, and s many people think that's OK... because it is SWA.. :rolleyes: Different subject though.

I guess it depends on the sim. I don't think taking a GA pilot and throwing him in a 747 simulator is gonna tell them a lot, but that's just my opinion. I'm not saying it is a good or bad thing necessarily, I just don't believe the sky is falling and that we are hiring a bunch of stooges if we don't. They can also determine a lot about a candidate's potential thru the interview process.. Besides, with all the airbusses we are getting all one has to know is how to read a checklist anyway. :D


FOOD FIGHT!!!

Does a sim matter for someone with thousands of hours of jet time? No.

I think there is some validity to a sim for an entry level applicant. Even if a guy has the gouge, he still has to demonstrate some basic ability. Even if it's in a Frasca.

I guess that is a fair response. Nothing is the operative word though. With all the hiring coming up, I'm not worried about it and I am still not willing to pay anything for it. If I'm an island, so be it.

Flitz instead of Brasso for the DB buttons?

I'm not sure what a Frasca is.. I think that is what UPS was using back when. (Is it like a table top sim?) The UPS sim was done in an office chair with no vis of any kind and you had to fly an NDB course in and out... and they told you to pretend you were in a mountain valley and not hitting the sides. silly really, but I wanted a job and I played the game. Gloopy's post is spot on.

Back to the point though. I think if a pilot has 1500 hours, and has no ability, he has lied on his resume and that will come out somewhere in an interview. Yes, sometimes guys fall thru the cracks. Ill grant you that it has some validity, but I wouldn't put it anywhere near the top of a list. jmho...

Lets see, an EtD candidate needs to be a Captain for 2 years and the current upgrade at Endeavor is what? Six to Eight? Isn't their plan also to go from the 160 planes they have now to something like 90? That should really help upgrade times. Also, the folks who don't pass their SSP interview are going to hang out in their Captain seats and reduce the amount of seats available for First Officers to move into.

So MAYBE a 6 year upgrade and then 2 as a captain for maybe 8 years to get to Big D. When you could go to someplace like Mesa, Compass, and PSA etc, with equally poor or slightly better pay, but a quicker upgrade and apply and get interviewed well before 8 years.

Maybe in a decade this will be a good program.

We're downgrading and have 7+ year first officers right now. If I were just starting out I'd go someplace else with a much shorter upgrade time. This program is just another half hearted attempt to solve a systemic problem.

Keep dreaming because that is never gonna happen...