November 28 Class
 

Starting in a couple weeks. Have a few questions:

1. Is the hotel within walking distance from class? What do people do to get to class with no shuttle?

2. I got an email, but it leaves some information out. How long is indoc?

3. What is the entire duration of the training cycle minus IOE?

4. How long are breaks and when are they scheduled?

See you there!

1. No its a couple miles from the training center. I didn't bring a car. There are enough people with cars and everyone is generous knowingly so cause theres no shuttle. There should be any problem getting to and from. I had to uber back to the hotel from my oral exam. That was it. There have been issues with car theft in the area so that is something to keep in mind.

2. Indoc I wanna say was 5-6 days. I'm having a hard time remembering exactly.

3. I started training on June 22nd. Checkride was Aug 14th.

4. We normally got a 5-10 minute break every hour and then 1-1.5 hour lunch.
Hope this helps! Welcome aboard!

thanks for the info!

I should have been more specific about breaks. Is there a break somewhere in there where you can go home? The email mentions there will be one.

August 22 class for reference.

You can walk to class every day during Indoc/ground school (at least for my class). This changes at sims… you’ll need a car or Uber (split 4 ways with another pair is super cheap if you absolutely do have to Uber).

CASS first week so you can jumpseat home pretty much every weekend… many people did this.

My sim partner and I had 32 days off out of the 64 days it took us from day 1 to checkride.

I’ve tried asking for info without much luck but today I got the first info email today. Not many specifics yet. Training materials forthcoming. Ground about 3 weeks, about 4 weeks for sim. In regards to specific days/holidays, all I was told was there “will be days off during the holidays” but they don’t know when. Interpolating, 3 weeks of ground has us done with that phase around Dec 16? I bet more specific off days will depend on what sim slots we get. The way I read the email, sounds like a 3 month footprint including IOE, probably 2 months not including IOE. That’s how long my regional initial was.

When I was at my interview, it looked like most people were coming from the hotel next door. Seems like after ground it’s over to Wooley’s, which is just down the road. Wooley’s has an airport shuttle, but I’ve only used it when staying there for layovers at my current job, so idk if it’s on a set schedule or demand. I think the other area hotels in that block use Western Shuttle. They seem to run more or less every half hour, just make sure you get on the correct one (I think East side pickup, and West side pickup I think goes to Tower Rd).

I had some questions as well.

In an earlier thread someone mentioned far-too-often patronizing the few area restaurants. Does anyone bother trying to go shopping/order groceries? I know neither hotel have much more than a mini fridge. Seemed like a small assortment of food for purchase in the cafeteria during lunch.

Is it safe to assume the hotel reservation starts the night before? Dumb question I know, seems obvious but the email didn’t really provide much and basically just said show up day 1 at 8am, and reach out if you need a flight.

Packing a bag. Someone mentioned being able to go home with some frequency. If so, I might just pack minimally and bring more stuff later (like heavier winter clothes, headset). CASS first week, what about uniforms and regalia? Not normally one to commute in full boat captain costume but I’m like 0/20 at KCM the last three weeks.

There’s a decent amount of food around. I personally went to King Soopers and got groceries for the hotel room. Cold cuts, milk, and microwaveable meats in the fridge with non-perishables like bread, snacks, microwaveable rice, etc. out of the fridge. There isn’t much at HQ to eat, just some cold cut sandwich stuff or if you can, steal from the interviewees.

You can go home every weekend if you want. Uniform isn’t necessary, just don’t bring big liquids.

another dumb question. If I have them book me a flight to training, and my roller & EFB are stuffed to the gills, how likely are the gate agents to give me a hard time about bags? Especially after that lively thread this week about incentivizing bag charges.

You'll be fine.

You're booked with a company business ticket and allowed 1 carry on and 2 checked. They won't care.