I agree. It is very much a gentlemens program. As you did in UPT/primary, be a sponge. Learn the operation and how Delta runs it. It is very different from mil flying. Keep a positive attitude and you will do fine.

Also, no need to tell the sim guys/ LCAs how you did it in the military. No one cares.

 

Guys -

Thx for all your input on the mil to civ transition. Valuable input, even on something small like not telling them how the AF does it. That, for instance, is a good thing to know for me because I was a white jet IP for 16 yrs. I'm used to giving my opinion on everything.

Much appreciated, and I really mean that.

 

It's unfortunately not like that any more

 

Twister...I went through new hire 121 training at a different carrier with an all civilian sim partner and I was coming straight out of the military (retired). My sim partner was a wealth of information, as were the instructors. It was a steep learning curve for me, but very manageable and certainly a "gentleman's club." Everyone was extremely helpful and wanted me to succeed. Fast forward 2 years, and I was able to return the favor when I started at DAL. I was paired with a straight out of the mil sim partner with no 121 experience (many of us were paired with classmates since we had 60 in our class and they quickly ran out of CA pairings). His learning curve was similarly steep, and I completely understood what he was going through. I was able to help him quite a bit going through training. They make an extraordinary effort to pair mil guys with prior 121 guys to help the mil guys with the transition. Again, DAL instructors were fantastic. You will never go into a training event without the required information that you need to succeed. Show up knowing the information for the event. The rest is instruction, training and repetition. Be prepared and you will be fine. Best of luck and welcome aboard!

 

Thanks, Tee! I must say I've been very impressed with how quickly those in the know have been to help all of us poolies. It definitely has helped me feel that Delta means it when they talk about being a family.

(And to everyone else out there on this forum, I apologize if I hogged this thread for days on end! Hope to see all of you somewhere down the line.)

 

Don't sweat it. Ask away. In training, focus on training stuff. After OE...start getting into the PWA (contract) and concentrate on the little bits of sections that apply to you immediately, such as section 23 scheduling for reserve or a line. Expand from there. Use the rest of your free time to peruse and get familiar with the rest of the pubs and where stuff is located. It'll all come together slowly, but concentrate on what you need right now and then keep expanding out. Keep asking questions when you need help. There's a wealth of information out there and you'll be hard-sought to find someone unwilling to help you out. Cheers brother!

 

I disagree. I thought the transition felt a lot like a B-course. 3-4 hours of studying a night, including chair flying, an hour in the FTD working flows (100 and 200 blocks), and writing the memory items to drill them in like bold face items. IMO, "gentleman's course" = spoon feeding. I was not spoon fed anything. I was also a one-man class with no sim partner, so that may have been a factor in the perceived intensity, but just about everyone I know who's been through Delta training in the last 2 years has had an experience similar to mine. I doubt any of them would describe the experience as a gentleman's course.

I do agree that having a good attitude and applying what the instructors teach will help, but that's not enough to get you through training.

I know, Delta loves tools like me. And no, there's no DG program. But during that first push of OE, it felt like I brain dumped everything I learned in training. I was happy I had enough muscle memory to not look entirely incapable.

 

You sound like me when I got hired. Behind from day 1. Back then we had ground school instructors and had real orals. But, the sentiment remains the same. Delta does performance exactly backward from the way the AF did it. The acronyms are all different. The focus items are different. The only thing that's the same is the vanilla part of flying.

I don't care if you're a patch guy, test pilot or space shuttle commander, the first time you push back in ATL you are behind.

My only little tidbit I can add, and it's Boeing related, since I never flew an Airbus, is, if you go to the 737, learn all the sim maneuvers and procedures cold. They more or less are the same for the rest of the boeings.

 

It's aqp training.....it's basically no man left behind and they tell you exactly what they want you to know


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Im with you. I found it as intense as anything I did in AF, behind on day 1 and fighting to catch up every day after. I also know plenty of folks who got extra sims and/or OE.

Good attitude and hard work will get you through, and company will certainly work with you to succeed. But not what I would call a gentlemans course either